The Payoff

Every once in a while, when I've had a not-very-stressful day at work, I do something crazy. Like agree to do a double or triple shift. Yesterday was one of those days. A couple of nurses had stayed over from the night before, and some came in early, in the afternoon, to help cover the unit ... every bed full, the ED back-logged, and OR cases being held in the PACU until we could move more patients to the floor. So I wasn't surprised when Mon asked for nurses to stay over. And I was prepared. Twenty hours. Mine had been a relatively easy day, although my assignment did double up after the first twelve hours. But that's fair, as I was earning double time plus the night-shift differential. More money in my pocket for Paris.

However, my pay-off came early. At about 0200, when I came back from break, a little droopy-eyed (and you thought this was impossible for Asians?), Topsy came over and donated a blissful ten minutes to dissolving the knots in my shoulders with her thumbs and elbows. Or at least I thought those were her elbows. Maybe she just has really strong thumbs. Pressure, but good pressure. Enough to move the chair a few inches. I wanted to swivel the chair around so that she could have better access, but I didn't want to disrupt the flow. Anyway, I felt the knots when she found them. Then I felt them pop and dissolve. And then I felt good.*

AC took report from me a little early. And so it was that I was on the road home at 0300, and in bed by 0330. Until I woke up at my customary 0600. And felt the knots ... again. Oh well. C'est la vie.

*Fred the Man continues to assert that PICU nursing is really stressfull. Not as stressful as managing a family restaurant in the Austrian Alps, but less stressful than managing a family restaurant in the Austrian Alps under the watchful gaze of family. I don't know. I don't think my work stresses me out unduly. It can be difficult, but I tend to leave work at work. Otherwise I write it up here and let it go. Maybe it's just that I realize that while I do good work, it isn't incumbent upon me to be there for good work to be done. I contribute a lot, but I'm not the lynchpin. Or rather, I don't feel guilty about taking a "mental health" day when I need it. Or just plain want it.