Shift Work

Well I am well and truly a shift working nurse! This last weekend I started my 4 night shifts which was an experience that I am sure to repeat. The first two night I so desperately wanted to be in bed by the time 4am rolled around but the next two nights were much better. Once my body got into a sleep routine and I got used to being up at horrible hours of the day. Did you know that there is this quiz show on at 1am called the Up-Late Game show and they get people to call in and answer puzzles and quizzes and the host pretty much talks non-stop for the hour or two that the show goes for. And they have really old movies and occasionally a familiar sitcom. One of my favourite shows came on at 3:30am one night but just as it started a guy came in with a massive gash in his arm needing stitches and by the time that was finished so was the show. Ah well you cant win them all. But the good thing is that in my night shifting and subsequent 2 days off, I miss some really busy shifts that were hell-ish for all who worked them and I only caught the tail end of it today. Thankfully todays shift had a few extra people on or else I may not have been awake right now but sleeping in exhaustion. About 6 discharges and 3 admissions just on our shift which is not bad for a ward that is considered pretty full with 10 patients and started the day with 13. Keep in mind we have a maximum of 20 beds but usually only 2-3 staff to deal with the number of patients. And we also have the random accident and emergency stuff that comes in. But I got through the day without feeling too stressed and it seems I am getting a bit better at doing this whole nurse thing. I am getting there with a long way to go. OkI am gonna finish cuz my brain is empty now. Work does that to me. Does it do that to you too?