I just came off of my night float rotation. What is night float you ask? Well I worked approximately 2 weeks as the night shift - coming in at 5pm and leaving around 6:30 am. Admitting patients overnight and taking care of all the other patients on the floor - when they needed more pain meds, blood pressures dropped, hearts went into funky rhythms, or heart's not receiving enough oxygen. Well at least my attending took care of a lot of patients and I stood faithfully by her side trying to learn.
Things I learned: That it's better to stay up all night than try to get a nap. That the ring of that phone we carry in which we get all the calls about our patients and admits is the worst, most dreaded noise in the world - especially while asleep and that my body has a physiologic response to that ring -my heart beats faster, my blood pressure goes up, and I hope I'm smart enough to answer the question that comes from the other end of the line. That my stomach doesn't handle blood, guts, and puss quite as well when it has been up all night and is tired. That my body was confused for 2 weeks as to when it was appropriate to eat and when it was appropriate to sleep. That next time I'm on night float Penny is going to live at my friend Sarah's house, so she won't wake me up, by shoving her cold wet nose in my eye, 1 hour after I've fallen asleep when I get home. That dusk and dawn can look very much the same.
I'm in the Tucson airport now, on my way home for my 1 week vacation. I have an exciting day to tell you about, but am waiting to upload all of my pics before I share.
