I’m a nurse but I don’t do 12+ hour shifts. I 4 x 8hr shifts, then 2 off, then 4 more in. The actual shift times are difficult (either very early start, or very late finish), but they’re still only 8hrs. 4 on/2 off results in me working almost every weekend (I only get 1 in 6 full Sat-Sun weekends off). That’s the downside, not the fact of being so busy. I am always absurdly busy, but 8hrs absolutely flies by in this sector. My pay is also very fair, and I can’t/don’t complain about it, even on my worst days (social care sector, not NHS).

Also, the “dealing with difficult people” side of it is what makes a shift fly by! I don’t get tired of this fundamental aspect of the job, no matter how challenging/repetitive it gets (I’m in mental health, and so many of my residents are just stuck in an endless loop of ups and downs, and almost none have any realistic prospect of “getting better”).

However, if I were to do 12hr shifts, then I’d also answer “nurse” to the job I “couldn’t do”! Although, many nurses actively prefer long days (fewer days worked per week).

My own answer to the job I can’t do is call centre operative. I can picture myself doing it, because I’ve done it in the past, but to me it was 100 x more soul destroying than even the worst of all worst days in nursing. I can deal with the most mentally unwell person, hell, I’ll deal with literally dozens of them at a time (and regularly do)…but give me just one Karen on the phone griping about trifling issues, and that is my breaking point.