Saturday, October 12, 2013

the jury is still out

My first night shift was this past Thursday and... let's just say I didn't know whether to cry or sleep when I got home.

I'm reserving judgment until I have a few more night shifts under my belt scrubs but I didn't realize how hard it was going to be to stay up all night and I underestimated the toll it would take on my body.  There were a few hours in the early morning where there was nothing to do. No patients awake, no orders to complete, no tests to run, no charting, no meds, nada.  Which translated to standing still for hours.
 
At least I'm putting my twitter skills to use, right?

Do you know how much it hurts to stand still? And I'm not just talking about mentally painful (which it is - I have a perpetual to-do list that contains no less than 7,492,618 items and wasted time kills me).  But I mean physically painful.  Since the end of my shift Friday morning I've been nursing (haha) a very tight, stiff lower back from all that standing around.  

 On the positive side, I got to try out a few new nursing skills and didn't suck at all of them.  For the record, blood draws are fairly easy and IVs suck.  Hopefully I'll have better news on that front next time.  Also, my mom sent me this:

Yup, a sleep mask. But not just any sleep mask - the Temper-Pedic Sleep Mark. AKA most amazing sleep mask ever! It is super soft with an adjustable velcro back so it will always fit just right.  There is even padding underneath the eye sockets so that the mask isn't pressed against your eyelashes.  Trust me when I say that no light got in these bad boys, which made them perfect for sleeping the day away after a trying inaugural night shift.

Tweet me some love Monday night if you're up - I'll be back on night shift!

xoxo,
Cait



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3 comments:

  1. MelissaOctober 12, 2013 at 7:03 PM

    I feel ya on the night shift..I've been working nights for almost a year and I'm not a huge fan..but I'm hoping to transfer unit and switch to day shift when I'm eligible next month! I bring my ipad with me and catch up on my shows on abc.com app or netflixs when it is slow and there is nothing to do. Also a good tip stay up as late as possible the night before you work if you have been off a few days..I usually stay up till 6 or 7 am before my first shift of the week and so I can get a full days rest before my shift. Hang in there!

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  2. LaurenOctober 12, 2013 at 10:37 PM

    I sleep with a sleep mask every night and now I kinda want the one you linked to (but my current one is from Target's $1 section so it will be hard to justify, haha!). I hope the overnights get better and I am sure you will be an IV master in no time!

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  3. Jacquelyn @justjacqOctober 15, 2013 at 3:54 PM

    haha I like that the tweet about me snuck onto that screen shot. Good luck, girl! I'd never be able to do that. And standing still is horrible... years of retail have made me loath it.

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