Tweak
I feel a little like Tweak from South Park right now. Nope, not high on drugs or caffeine... just trying to readjust my schedule from my new job on night shift at the hospital. It's almost 2 a.m., and I can't tell if I am tired. But I don't think so. I also can't tell if I am hungry. My stomach has told me when it's lunchtime for 28 years, and it's not giving me the same signals at midnight. For the last 3 days I had popcorn for breakfast at 7:30 a.m., which was, I think, actually dinner.
I started Sunday night with 3 12-hour shifts in a row, 7p.m. to 7 a.m. I'd applied for this job mistakenly back in May, thinking it was 7a-7p. But when it was the only one that I got a call for, I started to really consider it. And here I am.
There are some great benefits to working night shift. The place just clears out. I get princess parking. The skeleton crew shares a weird bond... It's like, hi, I'm a zombie too, and I feel ya. During the day, it's easy to disappear into the mix of 2,000 some employees. At 2 a.m. it's easy to share a laugh with the docs. They are trying to stay awake, too. I notice an immediate difference between the night shift docs, and the ones that roll in at 5 or 6 a.m., coffee in hand and don't-fuck-with-me attitude that comes with morning rush of staff pouring through the doors.
The patients seem calmer, too. I find it strangely satisfying to be the ghost who wakes them up gently to take blood sugars and vital signs at night, whereas during the day there are a million other things going on; docs and families and respiratory therapists, breakfast, lunch, dinner, physical therapy, etc. Many are awake during the night anyway, and like having someone to talk with.
We'll see how the adjusting goes. It's interesting for sure. A lot of the night nurses take something to help them sleep at night, melatonin, benadryl, etc. And I hope I don't have to go that route. The pay is better on nights, too. And since it's inside a hospital, I don't seem to miss the daylight. It's light when I get to work, and light when I leave. I sleep when it's light, so I don't feel like a vampire. But the downsides are obvious... it's 2 a.m. now, my night off, and I don't think I'll be sleeping anytime soon. Meanwhile, B is snoring away.
I started Sunday night with 3 12-hour shifts in a row, 7p.m. to 7 a.m. I'd applied for this job mistakenly back in May, thinking it was 7a-7p. But when it was the only one that I got a call for, I started to really consider it. And here I am.
There are some great benefits to working night shift. The place just clears out. I get princess parking. The skeleton crew shares a weird bond... It's like, hi, I'm a zombie too, and I feel ya. During the day, it's easy to disappear into the mix of 2,000 some employees. At 2 a.m. it's easy to share a laugh with the docs. They are trying to stay awake, too. I notice an immediate difference between the night shift docs, and the ones that roll in at 5 or 6 a.m., coffee in hand and don't-fuck-with-me attitude that comes with morning rush of staff pouring through the doors.
The patients seem calmer, too. I find it strangely satisfying to be the ghost who wakes them up gently to take blood sugars and vital signs at night, whereas during the day there are a million other things going on; docs and families and respiratory therapists, breakfast, lunch, dinner, physical therapy, etc. Many are awake during the night anyway, and like having someone to talk with.
We'll see how the adjusting goes. It's interesting for sure. A lot of the night nurses take something to help them sleep at night, melatonin, benadryl, etc. And I hope I don't have to go that route. The pay is better on nights, too. And since it's inside a hospital, I don't seem to miss the daylight. It's light when I get to work, and light when I leave. I sleep when it's light, so I don't feel like a vampire. But the downsides are obvious... it's 2 a.m. now, my night off, and I don't think I'll be sleeping anytime soon. Meanwhile, B is snoring away.
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