Hi, I’m Mariah—the nurse behind The Off Shift Edit. ✨
I’ve been an LPN for six years, I worked through the COVID-19 pandemic, and a recent new grad RN.
So, naturally, I decided this was the perfect time to start a blog. Because apparently nursing school, work, and regular life were not keeping me busy enough.
But honestly, this space has been on my heart for a while.
I created The Off Shift Edit because I know what it feels like to care for everyone else and slowly realize you have not checked in with yourself in… quite some time.
You know that moment when someone asks how you’re doing and you automatically say, “I’m fine,” even though your eye has been twitching since Tuesday?
Yes. That.
I really do love nursing—but nursing is a lot
I became a nurse because I genuinely wanted to help people.
I wanted patients to feel safe with me. I wanted families to feel like someone was listening. I wanted to be the kind of nurse who could bring a little calm into a room when everything felt scary and uncertain.
And I still love that part of nursing.
But no one fully prepares you for how much of the job follows you home.
Sometimes it is a patient you keep thinking about.
Sometimes it is a difficult conversation that replays in your mind while you are trying to fall asleep.
Sometimes it is the pre-shift dread that shows up two days early, even though you were having a perfectly nice afternoon before your brain decided to review the entire upcoming workweek.
And sometimes you are simply standing in your kitchen after a shift, eating something random, still wearing one compression sock, wondering when exactly you became this tired.
Nursing can be meaningful, rewarding, exhausting, heartbreaking, hilarious, and completely ridiculous—all before lunch.
Working through COVID changed the way I see nursing
Working during the COVID-19 pandemic is something I will always carry with me.
There was so much uncertainty. Policies changed constantly. People were scared. Nurses were scared too, even if we did not always say it out loud.
We still showed up.
We took care of our patients. We supported families. We adjusted to changes that seemed to happen every five minutes and somehow kept moving forward.
Nurses were called heroes, which was kind and appreciated.
But then the “heroes” still had to go home, process everything they had seen, wash their scrubs, answer regular-life questions, and come back for the next shift.
There was not always enough time or support to make sense of any of it.
That experience showed me how strong nurses can be. It also taught me that strength should not mean pretending everything is okay when it is not.
Just because you can keep functioning does not mean you are not carrying something heavy.
And being able to carry it does not mean you should have to carry it forever.
Then I decided to go back to school
After several years as an LPN, I decided to continue my education and become an RN.
Going back to school has been exciting, challenging, and humbling.
It has helped me grow professionally and reminded me how much there is to learn in nursing—which is apparently everything, all at once, by next Tuesday.
I’ve balanced school, work, assignments, responsibilities, and all the regular things life continues expecting you to do even when you have three exams and a clinical worksheet due.
There have definitely been moments when I stared at an assignment and wondered whether I wanted to become an RN badly enough to keep fighting with the formatting.
But I’m almost finished, and I’m incredibly proud of that.
I’m also looking forward to no longer introducing myself by saying, “I’m in nursing school,” as if nursing school is both my occupation and a long-term medical condition.
Why I created The Off Shift Edit
The Off Shift Edit is about the part of nursing that happens after you clock out.
It is the quiet drive home when your mind is still somewhere in the hospital.
It is lying in bed replaying the shift when you are supposed to be sleeping.
It is wondering why one day off does not always make you feel rested.
It is feeling guilty for saying no to an extra shift, even though you were already running on fumes and a granola bar.
It is loving nursing while also admitting that nursing can take a lot out of you.
I can relate to the blog posts I share here because I have lived many versions of them.
I know the Sunday Scaries that do not wait for Sunday.
I know what it feels like to keep pouring from an empty IV bag and call it dedication.
I know the difference between being regular tired and feeling like you have absolutely nothing left to give.
And I know how easy it is for nurses to minimize what they are experiencing because someone else always seems to need more.
That is why I wanted to create a space where nurses can be honest.
Not polished. Not perfectly resilient. Not pretending one bubble bath fixed everything.
Just honest.
This is not a “drink more water and think positive” kind of space
To be clear, I love a cozy blanket, a good candle, a warm drink, and using the expensive lotion before it expires.
I fully support making ordinary moments feel a little luxurious.
But I also know that self-care cannot fix unsafe staffing, toxic work environments, impossible workloads, or a schedule that looks like it was created by spinning a wheel.
Sometimes self-care is soft.
Sometimes it is a nap, clean sheets, a slow morning, or coffee you actually get to drink while it is hot.
Sometimes it is a boundary.
It is saying no to the extra shift.
It is taking your scheduled day off without writing an apology.
It is updating your résumé.
It is asking for support.
It is admitting that something needs to change.
This blog will never tell you that you simply need to become better at tolerating what is hurting you.
I want it to feel more like sitting down with a nurse friend who gets it—the one who lets you vent, makes you laugh, reminds you to eat something, and gently tells you the truth when you need to hear it.
What we’ll talk about here
We’ll have honest conversations about nurse burnout, compassion fatigue, difficult shifts, boundaries, career changes, night-shift life, rest, and figuring out who you are when you are not taking care of everyone else.
We’ll talk about the emotional parts of nursing that often get pushed aside because the next task, patient, shift, or assignment is already waiting.
We’ll also talk about creating a life outside of nursing—because you are allowed to have interests that do not involve scrubs, charting, or knowing exactly which snacks are available in the break room.
Some posts will be serious.
Some will be comforting.
Some will probably include jokes about staffing, cold coffee, missing pens, and the suspicious way the call light turns on the second you sit down.
The goal is not to become a perfect nurse with a perfect routine.
The goal is to feel a little more supported, a little less alone, and a little more like yourself again.
You are allowed to be more than the nurse everyone needs
Nursing may be an important part of who you are, but it is not all of you.
You are allowed to want rest.
You are allowed to protect your peace.
You are allowed to love nursing and still question whether your current role, unit, or schedule is healthy for you.
You are allowed to enjoy your day off without spending half of it recovering and the other half worrying about going back.
You are allowed to choose yourself before you reach complete exhaustion.
And you do not have to prove that you are a good nurse by running yourself into the ground.
Welcome to The Off Shift Edit🤍
The Off Shift Edit is the space I wish I had during some of the hardest seasons of my nursing journey.
A place that feels warm, honest, restorative, and a little funny—because sometimes laughing is the only reasonable response when your call light is on and you are already standing in the room.
Whether you are a new nurse, an experienced nurse, a nursing student, a night-shift nurse, or someone quietly wondering how much longer you can continue doing things the same way, you are welcome here.
Come in.
Bring the coffee you forgot to drink while it was hot.
Sit down for a minute.
You care for everyone else.
Here, you get to make some room for yourself too.
Welcome to The Off Shift Edit—wellness for nurses beyond the shift. 🌅
Notes to Your Off Shift Self
You do not have to prove your dedication through exhaustion.
You do not have to lose yourself to be a good nurse.
And you do not have to navigate the difficult parts of this profession alone.
Love,
The Off Shift Edit
Join The Off Shift Edit for honest conversations, gentle encouragement, and realistic wellness support from a nurse who truly understands.