Working on My Night Shift

Last year, I took a class in which we had to write a descriptive scene using all five senses. At the time, I was a day-shift RN, working 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. I wrote a paragraph about the experience of waking up early and the joys of coffee. It started with "Every 5 a.m. is the worst thing thing that has ever happened to me...."

It was in the middle of winter in the Indiana, and I truly felt horror and misery at having to wake up at 5 a.m., scrape the ice and snow off my car, and hit the frozen roads of Indianapolis. Maybe I have a little Seasonal Affective Disorder?

So, now, it's one year later, and I'm what I never thought I would be: a night-shift RN. And although I do think the night shift is wreaking havoc on my skin, I'm actually relatively at peace with the night shift, especially as a traveler. Who wants to have to learn how to utilize the crazy, disparate paper-and-BASIC-computer-charting system to learn how to, say, discharge patients?

I do, apparently. Well, want is not the right word. For the upcoming schedule, I'm being moved to days. Now the 5 a.m. wake-up call looms again. However, this time I'm in SoCal, not the Midwest. Will that early morning be as gruesome without a frosted windshield? I guess we'll see.

Work is killing me. I genuinely believe it will get a little better, as I adjust to the archaic computer systems and strange paper orders and paper MAR. Still, working the night shift while trying to double and triple check paper med orders, lab orders, and procedure orders against three different computer programs is nuts. Hopefully, when the hospital upgrades their computer charting/order entry system, which should be done during this assignment, I will feel less constantly anxious about making an error. For now, all I can do is be as thorough as possible, and ask questions when I have them.

Again, though: Los Angeles! Today, in the dead of winter, I took a pleasant walk through my neighborhood, wearing capris, flip-flops, and a short-sleeved t-shirt. The sun shone down through the leaves of the palm trees and warmed the air to 77 degrees. On the way back to my apartment, as I ate my frozen yogurt, a man sitting on his front porch smiled as he played his guitar. This is a Midwestern girl's paradise.

Work is only three days out of my week. I will give work 100% while I'm there, but life is what counts.

Sometimes, the "travel" part of travel nursing is a pain. Spending Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week jammed into airplane seats and crammed into my car has been wearying. So, having the opportunity to frolic about in the sunshine of LA/Santa Monica today was a real delight. I walked down to the beach and touched the Pacific. I bought some grapefruit at the farmer's market. I felt grateful for health and good weather, especially after the seemingly never-ending rain of Seattle and the blizzard conditions of Indianapolis.

California License

It came down a little close to the wire, but I'm officially an RN in the state of California, whew. Santa Monica, here I come (after 3 more days in Seattle and a detour to the Hoosier state)!

FYI, for those of you who might be applying for a California RN license by endorsement: it took the Board almost exactly 5 weeks to process my application.