sick

sick. just plain old cough, sore throat, nasal congestion, headache, sick. NOT sick, sick like some of my kiddos in the hospital. but for sure i got sick from one of those kiddos...

anyhow. just reflecting on my month of wards so far. starting on nights is way different. i like nights for the ability to talk to patients and do things at my own pace. i love the autonomy and the time i get to spend with the med students. i hate being tired and falling asleep while trying to write or dictate notes. i hate the groggy feeling of not caring anymore and just wanting to be home in bed already....

daylight savings night was especially hard. i had rode 60 miles that day for MS150 training so i was physically tired and i hadn't slept much the night before so i was running on only 4 hours of sleep in the past 24 hours going into the night and then because of spring ahead (yay, one less hour to work) i had one less hour to get everything done and we were busy. even my "easy" admit wasn't easy...  her mother only spoke Spanish and there were no Spanish staff to be found, the phone interpreter was hard to hear, the consulting service didn't want to be consulted, etc, etc. all night and morning long.  and then is started feeling sick with a scratchy sore throat and a cough but that was back seat to admits and progress notes to write. and my co-intern had the day off so that meant double the notes for the morning.. and before i knew it,  it was time to round and i had not finished a single note. At  10am when they force me to leave (duty hour violations) i was so tired i was falling asleep on my feet so there was NO way i could do notes then. i came home slept for a few hours and then work up to finish my work.  and when i woke up i was full on sick. but at least i have today to sleep and recoup before tonight.

nights are more than half over, just 3 more to go and then it is on to days and crazy, busy, admit, discharge, work.... but it is my last month of wards as an intern! next time i'm on wards i will be the upper, which is crazy to think about. but i'm feeling more confident and i think i'm ready, or will be. so long as i figure out how to function without sleep.

intern year is going to be over in a flash. just nursery, NICU and behavior and development to go. then i'll be a big, bad 2nd year! wow. time flies.

i'm sick. but happy.  i love my job. and that is all i have on this monday morning.

happy first monday after daylight savings to you!