Why Nurses Feel So Tired Even on Their Days Off
- Heather Strand
- Jan 2
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 5
By Heather Strand: Mindset Fitness + Self-Leadership Coach
If you’ve ever clocked out, sat in your car, and thought, “I’m officially off work, so why does my brain still feel like it’s at work?”... You are not alone.
Nurses don’t go home and magically turn into relaxed humans- We go home and replay conversations, worry about patients, mentally rewrite charting, and wonder why our nervous system thinks we’re still at work… even in sweatpants.
You’re not exhausted because you’re doing something wrong. You’re tired because you’ve been doing something important, and your body hasn’t been shown how to slow down yet. There’s a difference. And, once we can realize the difference, the exhaustion stops feeling mysterious… and starts feeling workable.
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What Survival Mode Looks Like for Nurses
Survival mode isn't a weakness. It’s a highly adaptive, high-functioning response to ongoing demand.
It allows nurses to stay focused in high-stakes moments, respond quickly under pressure, and manage emotional intensity with professionalism. The challenge isn’t survival mode itself- it’s living in it continuously. It’s what forgets to turn itself off after the shift ends.
For many nurses, survival mode shows up as:
Thinking about work while brushing your teeth
Feeling tired but wired
Scrolling because your brain won’t stop
Overindulging to “numb out”
Needing “just one more Netflix show” to calm down
Feeling guilty for needing rest in the first place
You may be off the clock, but your nervous system still believes readiness is required, and that is not a flaw- it’s conditioning shaped by years of responsibility and vigilance.
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What the Research Reflects
This experience isn’t isolated- it’s widely documented across the nursing profession:
According to the American Nurses Association, 62% of nurses report experiencing burnout, with even higher rates (69%) among nurses under 25.¹
A 2025 Florida Atlantic University survey found that 65% of nurses report high stress and burnout, and only 60% would choose nursing again if given the choice.²
Globally, a large meta-analysis of 94 studies across more than 30 countries found that approximately 30% of nurses experience moderate-to-high burnout symptoms, most commonly emotional exhaustion.³
U.S. trend data also shows burnout continuing to rise, with nearly half of healthcare workers reporting frequent burnout in recent years.⁴
So if you’ve been thinking, “Why am I still this tired?”, the answer isn’t “because you’re failing.”... It’s because your nervous system has been in high gear for a very long time.
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Why Clocking Out Doesn’t Equal Recovery
Nursing education and workplace culture emphasize endurance, while recovery was rarely modeled or supported. There’s an important distinction that often goes unspoken: Rest gives your body a break… Recovery refills the part of you that’s been poured out.
When the body has been operating in alert mode all day, stress hormones don’t disappear the moment a shift ends. Without intentional downshifting, the nervous system stays primed, even in safe environments like home.
That’s why sleep doesn’t always feel restorative, days off pass without relief, and vacation time doesn’t translate into renewed energy.
This isn’t resistance to rest- It’s the body waiting for a signal that it’s truly safe to slow down.
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The Missing Skill No-one Taught Us
As nurses, we were trained to care, respond, and endure… We were not trained to downshift.
That’s where self-leadership after the shift comes in- not as another thing to perfect, but as a way to protect what God entrusted to you: your energy, your heart, and your ability to keep loving what you do.
Self-leadership means learning how to release the shift instead of carrying it home. It means:
learning how to recognize when survival mode is active
guiding your nervous system out of constant readiness
leading your thoughts instead of replaying the shift
creating emotional boundaries between work and personal life
Healthcare systems were built on endurance, and nurses rose to that expectation with remarkable strength.
Self-leadership is the next evolution: sustaining that strength without burning it out.
That isn’t indulgence- it’s leadership with longevity in mind.
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What Self-Leadership Looks Like in Real Life
Self-leadership doesn’t require a perfect routine or lifestyle overhaul. It’s not a 2-hour process. It’s not another to-do list.
Often, it looks like:
acknowledging the shift instead of minimizing its impact
creating a brief transition that signals “work is complete”
choosing self-talk rooted in professionalism rather than pressure
allowing rest without turning it into another performance metric
One simple reframe many nurses find grounding is this: “I showed up with skill and care today. Now I reset with intention.”
That shift is subtle and powerful.
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Why January Is a Reset Season, Not a Hustle Season
January often arrives with pressure to optimize, improve, and push forward. But for nurses who have been operating in survival mode, leadership doesn’t begin with more effort… It begins with better recovery.
Survival mode may be necessary in moments, but it isn’t sustainable as a lifestyle. There is wisdom in honoring capacity, restoring what has been depleted, and recognizing that caring for yourself supports your calling- it doesn’t compete with it.
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🌿 Self-Leadership After the Shift — Live Masterclass
January 27th at 7pm CST live on Zoom
Learn how to reset your nervous system, release the shift, and reclaim your energy — without guilt, burnout culture, or pushing harder.
This masterclass is for nurses who are ready to move from constant survival mode into sustainable leadership.
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Footnotes
American Nurses Association, What Is Nurse Burnout and How to Prevent It, NursingWorld.org
Florida Atlantic University (2025), Beyond the Bedside: National Nursing Survey Results
Woo, T., et al. (2023), Global prevalence of nursing burnout syndrome
NurseJournal.org / CDC analysis (2022–2023), Healthcare Worker Burnout Trends in the U.S.
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Heather Strand | Mindset Fitness Coaching
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