Sick day
11 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
I really overdid it this weekend. And now I’m sick. I don’t work more than 38 hours per two weeks normally, but due to a variety of circumstances hitting on the same week, I ended up working 50 hours in 5 days, with only 3 or 4 hours of sleep each day. I started feeling sick the second night, but calling in sick wasn’t an option for a minor cold, because I knew they were majorly understaffed even WITH me there. But today I’m sicker than I was, and I wouldn’t feel right going in there with a productive cough and fever, not just a sore throat and sinus headache like I had all week. Add in the fact that I don’t have a babysitter lined up for tomorrow so I can sleep for a few hours after my shift (not sleeping after working an overnight while already sick just sounds like the perfect recipe for making sure I get bronchitis), and it wasn’t a hard decision to call in sick this morning. I gave them 16 hours notice, so hopefully they can find an extra nurse, although I wouldn’t count on it, as short-staffed as the unit is already.
SO… I’m sick, I have a big paycheck coming my way from all that time and a half, and I feel soooo patient and happy to be with my kids today. Four of the five nights that I worked last week involved taking care of a roomful of manipulative lying thieves (they cleaned out our unit of hundreds of dollars worth of food and other items, and also did the same on the unit that they migrated to after leaving our floor. Pieces of work they were). It’s amazing how mature my two littles seem, even in full-out tantrum mode, after hours and hours dealing with those people. (I should mention here that the majority of my patients are lovely people, which is probably why the above family stood out so much- they are very much the exception!)
I was a little annoyed last night, to finally have a full night ahead of me for nothing but sleeping, only to lie down and find out that I couldn’t breathe. I moved out to the living room to avoid waking everyone with all my coughing, but on the couch, I was only able to get about four hours of sleep. So, no better than what I’ve been getting all week. Oh well. I was overdue for a cold; I don’t think I was sick even once last year. On the bright side, I am really glad to be a benefited employee again, meaning that I can actually get paid for staying home sick. I don’t think I’ve used any sick time at all since I was at my first nursing job, three years ago.
I’m tuckered out, but I’m really glad that I did work all those shifts, as it’s been a very educational week. I still have tons to learn, but I’m happy to say that I no longer feel like throwing up from the anxiety every time I go into work. My nursing skills are definitely improving, after being on this floor for close to two years now. Brag: I noticed a case of jaundice early, on a baby that wasn’t even my patient. I happened to see the baby lying there looking orange as a pumpkin, asked her nurse if I could check her (we normally don’t check them before 20 hours old), and found that she was already at a level of 18 at only 18 hours of age. 20 is where they start worrying about kernicterus. Yikes! So I have to pat myself on the back for noticing and responding to that (everyone around at the time seemed to think I was silly, and said that she was only that color because of her race).
I also witnessed one of scariest resuscitations I’ve ever seen. Scary enough that the practitioner in charge called for the code box, thinking that we might need to give epinephrine. Someone commented that God was watching over the baby, because if the practitioner had arrived only a few minutes later, the baby might not have survived. Anyway, it was terrifying, but it turned out okay, and I’m really glad I was there (the more experienced folks already had things under control when I arrived, so I was able to watch their decision making process and just take orders). Deliveries always make me nervous, even low-risk ones, but I feel more confident about attending them having seen this one, because less than 5% of deliveries require that long of a resuscitation. I’m so glad that everyone was on their toes that night.
And also, I’m still quite irritated at the oncoming nurse who criticized me for calling in the pediatrician to look at the baby right around shift change. “Why is SHE here?” “BECAUSE WE WANT HER TO BE HERE!” Apparently, I am supposed to respect her hatred for this particular doc by not notifying her about a baby who is doing scary things. Riiiiight. That sounds like responsible nursing care right there. I should know to expect that behavior from this particular nurse, but it’s still annoying as all get out.
Enough venting. Time for a fun-filling day of parenting from the couch, with a Kleenex in hand! 
