‘I Can’t Afford Gas. I Can’t Afford Groceries’: A California Operating Room Nurse Is DoorDashing After 12-Hour Shifts to Pay Rent

A video on X shows a woman starting her late-night DoorDash shift. In the video, she sits in her car and describes her frustration because she is also an operating room nurse in California.

The video was originally posted on TikTok by @itsbirdoclock. In it, the woman says she had already worked 12 hours that day but is still unable to pay her rent. 

"I can't afford gas. I can't afford groceries. I can't afford any of my endless other bills," she says her voice exhausted. She added that, after being on her feet all day, she was DoorDash-ing at 12:30 a.m. She also said she had spilled a milkshake on herself while making a delivery.

The video, however, deeply divided viewers. "She works in an operating room. Prices need to come down, and wages need to come up," wrote a user. But many others were skeptical of her financial situation and even questioned her spending habits.

The average registered nurse in California earns approximately $122,623 per year, which is about 21% above the national average, according to Glassdoor. But the average rent across California is now roughly $2,202 per month. According to SmartAsset, California's average rent is about 35% higher than the national average, and one may need around $5,430 per month for basic living expenses. 

The video included on-screen text reading 'this country is a joke.'

The clip struck a chord with viewers who said healthcare workers should not have to take on second jobs to make ends meet. Operating room nurses require specialized training and licensure and work under high-pressure conditions for hours at a time.

Sadly, as an X user noted, "California has a high wage-to-cost-of-living ratio for nurses," due to personal and professional circumstances.

The nurse's identity could not be confirmed. The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the claims made in the video.