Time and the social reproduction of American health care

SynopsisIn this article, I argue that the restructuring of shift work in nursing is an important tool in the neoliberalization of health care in the US. Since the 1990s, nurses in the majority of hospitals in the US have switched from eight to twelve-hour shifts. This change, while popular among nurses, has had significant implications on the job itself. Questioning why a longer working day seems to be a victory for nurses, I argue that this change in shift work – this lengthening of the working day – is an important tool of neoliberalism that works to distract from issues of workload, overtime, resources, and staffing.