I work as a case manager at a domestic violence shelter. It can be very emotionally taxing but for the most part I do like my job, I like helping people and I’m good at what I do. As you can imagine there is not a lot of money in this line of work, especially for the operational advocates (basically the entry level staff that work directly with the shelter residents) and as a result the shelter is constantly understaffed. Right now, we are more understaffed than I think I’ve ever witnessed in my two years at this job. Specifically, we lost the advocate who worked 10pm-8am M-F, which is a very hard position to fill for obvious reasons. In May of this year, we were down an overnight advocate and as a result I spent about two months flip flopping between working normal day shifts as a case manager and helping out by covering overnight advocate shifts. This kind of scheduling was not sustainable for me. I already struggle with my sleep, and I have issues with depression and anxiety. I powered through it but was very upfront with my boss about how difficult it was and how I would not be comfortable doing that again. It’s only a few months later and we are back in that same position. I’m only working one or two overnight shifts a week, but it throws off my sleep schedule for the rest of the week and the little time off I have is spent sleeping just trying to recover. I just received my work schedule for the next two weeks, and with this current week included- I am scheduled for 19 consecutive days without a full 24 hours off. The days that I’m technically off- are actually days where I worked overnight the night before but I get off at 8 am those days. Keep in mind, the overnight shift is an advocate position and that isn’t even my job, as I am a case manager. I was absolutely floored when I saw the schedule. I don’t know how I’m expected to function as a human being like this. I sat down with my boss and pointed out the fact that I’ll be working 19 days straight without a proper day off- and she basically said her back is against the wall. Her only suggestion was using some of my PTO however she said I couldn’t change any of the days where I’m working overnight. I went back into my office and cried. I literally don’t know how I’m going to function. It feels like there’s no respect or consideration for my well-being. I also feel stuck at this job because I have no higher education and was only able to achieve this position through work experience and time within the organization, and there are not many non-profits in my area and as far as I’m aware I work for one of the better ones. I’m at a loss.