Springing Forward Stinks

I am not sure I have disliked "springing forward" any more than I did this year. Why did I ever think that was "cool"?! (It WAS pretty "cool" the once or twice I worked the night shift and only had to work 11 hours instead of 12, and it IS kind of "cool" that it means spring and summer are getting closer, but that's about it for the "coolness factor".)

It was not a very bright idea to schedule myself to work three shifts in a row over "spring forward" weekend. I'm actually not sure it is a bright idea to continue to schedule myself three days in a row period, but sometimes it is an easier way to schedule (plus, no one likes to work Mondays and I try to help out). So, Saturday was a pretty busy day at work, especially for a Saturday, and even more especially since I didn't have any patients on the transplant service. When I got home I ate an entire frozen pizza (thin crust is the only "excuse" I have for that...that and it had zero grams trans fat and an "all natural" crust). Typically, I try to shut my lights off at 11:00 the night before I work. However, at 10:00 pre-spring forward time, I was hardly tired and was enjoying "facebook chatting" with a friend. She finally made me say good night at 10:30, which was then 11:30 and my alarm still went off at 5:30.

Yesterday was almost as busy as Saturday, which, again, is different for a weekend. It did make it a little easier not to miss facebook as much :o) Even though I was tired, my family had steak and potatoes for "family dinner", so I had to get my portion! Then, I talked to a couple friends on the phone and before I knew it, it was well after 11:00.

This morning, I was deep into a dream when I woke with the sound of my alarm at 6:06. My alarm goes off at 5:30 and usually I push the snooze until 5:57ish, but I didn't remember pushing snooze this morning and somehow managed to drag myself out of bed. Today was even more busy than the past two days and I was running all around (typical for a Monday...at least today I wasn't the only busy one!). I felt myself starting to get flustered and stressed out which was magnified by the fact I was REALLY tired. I kept trying to take one thing at a time, but the things kept coming and not usually one at a time. I felt myself getting close to tears, but held my lower lip in tight and attempted to carry on. However, at one point I had a 4-year-old cancer patient with high fevers and pain, a 3-year-old I had orders to send home who was vomiting, and a 13-day-old baby who was crying. Who takes precedence? ALL of them had needs that were equally important. ALL of them deserved to have me there right then. The crying newborn was probably the "safest" in the "grand scheme of things", but was also the hardest to ignore. I took a deep breath and tried to finish up what I was doing while figuring out my next plan of action. In the mean time, a nurse who I REALLY like decided to take that moment to tease me by saying something to the effect of "where is the nurse for that crying baby?!"...

and, I lost it. All those pent up emotions came out full force and I was bawling. Right there in the nurses' station (thankfully with my back turned to my four or five co-workers who were sitting there...oh yes, SITTING there...that definitely didn't help the situation). Tears falling and still trying to figure out what I was going to do. She felt really bad, but I'm pretty certain it was bound to happen the next time someone tried to talk to me. The charge nurse happened to see me crying and asked what she could do. I blubbered something to the effect of "go help my baby", I finished charting and decided to take a breather and splash some cold water on my face (I had actually taken care of most of the fever/pain issue and the other kids mom was there to so really could deal with the vomit until I got there).

I pretty much know that I should never think "it can't get much worse than this", because it always can. So, I didn't "go there", although the thought of "you can't think that!" did. Unfortunately, two hours later, we got word that one of our patients had passed away. Although the child was in the hospital, it was not for a "life-threatening condition". So, it was sudden and left everyone stunned, some were unable to hide their emotions. Then, everyone was emotionally at the point where I was and were left to struggle through the rest of the shift. Shortly after that, I had to cheerfully welcome a new patient to our floor right before change of shift. That left me getting off late and I only caught the fourth quarter of my dad's basketball game (they got beaten pretty badly, so it would have been tough to watch, which I guess could be a "silver lining" to this pretty crappy day).

I just finished eating a box, yes a BOX, of my favorite blue box Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. I'm going to watch Medium on DVR and am thinking either microwave popcorn or ice cream will be necessary for that. Probably good I'm not a heavy drinker and there isn't any alcohol in the house...comfort food is better than comfort drink, right?! Probably neither are good, but I'm thinking if I get weighed and measured this week, it will not be very good.

Springing forward stinks, and sometimes so does working with sick kids for a living. Tomorrow I have a meeting, but I don't have to work another shift until Thursday. Thankfully, I found someone to work on Saturday for me. I was getting really stressed out about that because it is the memorial service for my friend's husband. I asked nearly everyone who could move from Friday or Sunday to Saturday and was not having any luck. I have never called in sick, and calling in sick would have left them two nurses short (since we are already one nurse short). My conscience was having a hard time with what I had to do. But, now I don't have to worry because things are covered (of course, then I have to work on Sunday for the third week in a row and I hate missing church, but at least I can go on Saturday this week)

I think this is the longest I have gone between posts in a long time. It was really busy, but I am glad I had time to type tonight...this definitely helps!
Good night.