Perhaps my least favorite thing about my job is night shifts. As I get older, they get more and more painful. If I don’t get a nap before going in at 11pm, my brain gradually turns to oatmeal. Come 4am, and I’m hoping I don’t have to think very much. A sore throat or ear infection is about all I want to tackle.
One surprising side effect of night shifts is that the nurses start getting chatty, and all kinds of intense conversations spring up. Last night, I was working with some of my favorite nurses and we somehow started talking about religion. My usual rule is not to get into any debates about religion, because it never ends well. Unfortunately at 4 in the morning, it seems like you can really get to the bottom of these issues and solve them. You can’t. We spent a good hour sifting through all kinds of intense religious theory, wasting valuable charting (or napping) time. Huge waste. Luckily, I don’t think anyone was mad or offended by the end of shift.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey, at least you go in at 11! I go in at 7:30 for a 12 hr overnight. I make sure I get up early the day of a night shift and then take a good long 2-3 hour nap where I get up right before I have to leave – just like my day shifts. Helps some. Not with the religion arguments though!
So do our nurses. Makes me feel like a slacker.