sadly no, i cant cut back on hours. My hospital is going through a major cutback in anticipation of healthcare reform and we are already overstaffed. If i say i am not well and need to cut back hours, they will most likely let me go since i exhausted my FMLA (leave of absence). Its just such a completely exhausting job, especially going against my sleep-wake cycle (which ive been doing for 8 years now and never had a problem)....but now my body just cant handle it. On my days off, i have been sleeping 12-17 hours completely wiped out. There are so many levels of stress at my job- physical, emotional, and mental stress that i think goes against every theory on what to avoid to get better from a concussion. I think if i had a normal job, and went back in slow short stints like everyone else has described, i might have an easier recovery. Nursing is my life though.