Today was a bit of a change from the usual. Instead of getting up at 5am, I was able to sleep in. My shift didn’t start till 1500 (3pm) so, I was in no rush to get out the door. As the morning slipped away - at a pace much quicker than I expected, I was out the door - trying to beat the traffic. I somehow ended up at my preceptorship 1.5 hrs early, thank goodness I brought my book.
When I started, things were somewhat busy on the unit, but nothing I couldn’t manage (haha yah right). As the afternoon flew by, dinner approached and then bed time. Some of the kids were exhausted by that point and were ready for bed, while others kicked and screamed the whole way! Before I knew it, you could actually hear the humming of the lights (not like those creepy flickering noises you hear and see in the scary movies, but the quiet as in silence). It was nice for a change. Because of this down time, I was able to get my hands on some chart and do some more digging around - find out more of these kids histories - reason why they were admitted. As some of these stories unraveled, I once again.... was hit in the face with a whirlwind of emotions. I asked my RN, K, how she is able to separate her work from her actual life. I have often gone home at the end of my shift and struggle with leaving my kids at work. I think about them often. She gave me some fantastic advice - which I know will help me down the road. Some ways are:
When I started, things were somewhat busy on the unit, but nothing I couldn’t manage (haha yah right). As the afternoon flew by, dinner approached and then bed time. Some of the kids were exhausted by that point and were ready for bed, while others kicked and screamed the whole way! Before I knew it, you could actually hear the humming of the lights (not like those creepy flickering noises you hear and see in the scary movies, but the quiet as in silence). It was nice for a change. Because of this down time, I was able to get my hands on some chart and do some more digging around - find out more of these kids histories - reason why they were admitted. As some of these stories unraveled, I once again.... was hit in the face with a whirlwind of emotions. I asked my RN, K, how she is able to separate her work from her actual life. I have often gone home at the end of my shift and struggle with leaving my kids at work. I think about them often. She gave me some fantastic advice - which I know will help me down the road. Some ways are:
- Having good nursing friends that you can talk with on a regular basis. Sometimes being a nurse, you see things that not many people would understand. To have those that can relate and give you advice about certain things (such as this), is always good to have.
- When you get home, change immediately out of your scrubs. This is saying that you no longer are Nurse K, but you are just K for tonight.
- While driving home from work, take time to pray and reflect.
- When you get home, have a cup of tea, think about the day for x amount of time (15 minutes) but then go and do something else (watch TV, read, hang with friend etc).
Aside from her wise words, I got to rock little babies as the night progressed! This day was great - different, but nice to not feel so fast paced as I usually would during the morning/early afternoon! Driving home at 2300 (11pm) was great - no traffic! Ahh, I look forward to many more of these days!
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