As many of you know, I rotate between nights and days at work. I go for a stretch on day shift (approximately 2-4 months) then go back to nights. This is my position at the moment. I would love a full time day shift position, but that won't be offered anytime soon I'll bet. I was last on day shift for 4 months, and I hope that I'm not on night shift for that long. I don't complain when I'm on day shift, but I will when I'm on night shift! :D
Well, I'm back on nights. Yesterday was my first night back. I was up from 10:00 am Monday until 8:15 am yesterday. It was rough, but I kept busy and was able to do it without falling asleep. I like the people on night shift. They are fun, friendly, and go out of their way to help most of the time. I have more patients so that means more people to chart on, but there is also less to do (most of the time). Some people call every 30 minutes, and when you have 5 patients, you can keep pretty busy! But most of the time people sleep...
I almost cried on Sunday night, dreading going back to night shift. It's not that I don't like working it, I just don't like leaving Jamaal. When I work 12hour night shifts, I see him for about 15 minutes before I leave and when I get home I see him for about 5 minutes and he goes to work. Night shift just doesn't work for my life. It is amazing to me how much I had grown accustomed to the day shift routine. I like to eat dinner with him, cook for him and I like knowing that if a thunderstorm wakes me up or I have a bad dream, there's a body nearby that I can cling to. I don't like this eat at work, sleep alone, "hi" and "bye" sort of schedule. Fortunately, tomorrow night (really tonight) will be an 8 hour shift, and after that I have 5 nights off. 8 hour shifts are better because I get to eat dinner with him, and play a game or watch a show or whatever with him. But if I work more 12 hour shifts, then I don't have to work as often and can have more days off in a row.
On another note, today is my 1 year anniversary: I have officially been working for a full year! :D I feel so grown up!
I know what you mean about working night shifts. I absolutely hated it. I complained so much and I was also really emotional (maybe it was from being tired all the time & not seeing Taylor as much too). That is good the people on night shift are fun! The nurses I worked with were boring. It was ALWAYS quiet and that made me extra tired. Hopefully you can adjust. Just cherish those days you have off. I feel for ya ; )
ReplyDeleteI think I would cry if I had to work all night too. You guys truly do sacrifice a lot for your jobs. I think you guys deserve more credit than the docs!!
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