This classification method has obvious limitations both in theory and practice. There is no systematic or standardised method for defining what constitutes 'high-intensity' work. The archival data we rely on was essentially produced by administrators, categorised and recorded from the perspective of the system and individuals. These records reflect only the materiality of the institutional level, entirely missing the crucial dimension of the nurses' personal experiences. The definition of work intensity should be a multidimensional construction that includes both managerial perspectives and the lived experiences of nurses.
To address this issue and fill the gap in experiential understanding, we incorporated the subjective voices of contemporary nurses in the later stages of the project. For instance, we conducted interviews with currently employed nurses, inviting them to share what 'nursing' means to them from their own perspective. When listening to their varied definitions of 'exhaustion' in actual work settings, we found that their understandings and thoughts did not always align with the classifications in the charts. This reveals the complexity of professional nursing life.