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So I yapped on a few blogs back about leaving Home Health and returning to the hospital I call my "dysfunctional family". I do love the place and have had some really good memories from the hospital. I've worked in almost every department. I just don't do delivering babies. Nope. Not gonna do that. Mz Scarlett don't do no baby deliverin'.
I love the ER and all the type A personalities there. I fit right in. However, I am working in a unit that does rehab on a physical/cardiac status. We get folks ready to go home after hip replacements, heart surgeries or something else that requires a little boost before they go home.
I've worked my fanny off and run the halls for 12 hours. I've gone a whole shift without a meal or a bathroom break that wasn't longer than 3 minutes. I've put up with fighting families, dueling banjo's (think "Deliverence") and other strange even by my standards people. I've taken care of some really sick folks...mentally and physically!
I worked the night shift this week and am almost ashamed to get a paycheck. Hey! I said 'almost'...I'm not completely crazy. As I sat reading the newspaper at 0400 and sipping my coffee out of my insulated cup that proclaims "Super Nurse" (a gift from someone in the past) on the side I almost felt guilty. Again...'almost'. My patients were sleeping. Not in pain. No needs that required attention. Just quiet and peaceful and healing.
Guess what. I get paid the same amount of money if I sit and sip coffee while keeping an eye and ear out for an early AM need as I did when I ran my legs off chasing perverts, weird-o's, and screaming doctors.
Guilty? Hell's Bells no! I've paid my dues and am enjoying my 12 hours between 7PM and 7AM when all is quiet on my unit. Like a mother hen I peek in the rooms to be sure they are tucked in and resting quietly. I give the meds that will help in the healing process. I listen if they need to chat. I am their nurse. The paycheck is just a bonus for doing what I love.
Now it's time to toss on a set of scrubs, grab my matching Crocs (I do have a flair of style, ya know) and head over to the hospital that is 1.6 miles from my driveway. Yep, I'm saving gas, too!!
Off we go into the night....Nurses On Patrol!!
Mz Scarlett, RN (Real Nurse, Regular Nut, and sometimes Real Nice...but don't expect it as a regular activity.)
Thank you very much, Lucy, and all the others of you nurses out there.