It is a gorgeous day in Seattle! Blue skies, temps in the mid-40s. I feel as though I should be doing something more productive than blogging... or at least something outside. I'm excited to have the day off, but I kept thinking of boring things that needed to be done rather than fun outdoorsy stuff! The weather report says that tomorrow will be more of the same, so maybe I will make the most of my free time then. It will be more relaxing if I've taken care of the other stuff first, right? :-)
Worked another 12 yesterday. Although I was there until 8:30 pm finishing up stuff, so I guess it was technically a 13. I am wondering if maybe I am too much of a perfectionist and should just not worry so much about passing stuff off to the next shift. But honestly, I don't want to be one of those nurses who is too busy to spend time with their patients, and I certainly don't want to give them worse care because I have too much work to do. So instead I spend time after my shift doing a bunch of charting, since that always seems to be the thing that gets neglected in favor of hands-on care. Not a healthy habit, I am realizing... it is more like a recipe for burn-out! But I haven't quite figured out that balance yet, I guess.
We were short-staffed yesterday... and the hospital was so full that our ER was on divert... which just meant craziness. Four high-acuity patients is too much for a day shift! And I'll be blunt. Our floor is a tough place to be a nurse. One of the ER nurses told me last week that I should come work in the ER because it is much easier, and honestly, I am sure that it is. Maybe that sounds cocky. All I know is that the float nurses say our floor is the hardest. And it is insane. So I am beginning to realize that maybe it isn't just me... maybe it's just the way it is. Therefore, what do I do when I can't be the perfect nurse? How am I supposed to reconcile my desire to do everything exactly right, when it is impossible? These are the things that I think about when I drive home at night. That, and my aching back! I am thinking I need to get new shoes for work... my right ankle is bugging me again after a couple of weeks reprieve, and I wonder if my shoes are partly to blame. But who wants to spend money on that?! Ok, enough complaining. :-)
Smokey is being adorable while I am writing this. For some reason she is obsessed with playing with the USB cord for my printer!
Well, time to go be productive with my afternoon. :-)
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