Night shifts

[jimN]

It's 4 in the morning my eye lids are heavy and I feel groggy as hell. Am not allowed to sleep during my shift but conversely there isn't necessarily 12 hours of work to do during it which means that I follow the forums fanatically and my posting frequency leaps up.

Don't know if there are others here in the same boat but my god this is tedious. Saddest part is knowing that if i don't change careers then I can look forward to having to pull these shifts for the rest of my working life.

It's at times like these I wonder what they did before the internet!

 

[SamIchi]

Would you like to enlighten us on what this job is?

 

[jimN]

I work as a junior doctor covering the neonatal ward of a hospital on the outskirts of London. I'm here in case the babies get unwell, to cover the delivery suite and to perform all the menial routine tasks that they now feel able to give to night workers since we're no longer pulling day-night shifts.

 

[SamIchi]

I see, sounds important to me, I thought it was just a job at a hotel or sumthin. Atleast you get to browse the internet.

 

[dmw007]

It's at times like these I wonder what they did before the internet!

Yikes!!!

Thats a scary thought.

 

[jimN]

I see, sounds important to me, I thought it was just a job at a hotel or sumthin. Atleast you get to browse the internet.

Like i said, not always that busy although when called upon it can suddenly get very demanding. Some of the routine tasks are quite time consuming (getting blood out of the babies generally takes longer than you'd expect) but on the whole there's a lot of sitting and waiting - I just don't seem to be getting any better at it.

 

[dmw007]

Like i said, not always that busy although when called upon it can suddenly get very demanding. Some of the routine tasks are quite time consuming (getting blood out of the babies generally takes longer than you'd expect) but on the whole there's a lot of sitting and waiting - I just don't seem to be getting any better at it.

Hopefully things get better for you (either busier or you get better at waiting around for something to do). Look on the bright side, at least you have MR to turn to for some entertainment.

 

[OutThere]

It's 4 in the morning my eye lids are heavy and I feel groggy as hell.

I think some hospitals in the U.S. are reconsidering their intern/resident programs because of this. Something about patients getting treated by people who've been up for 30 hours straight.

 

[jimN]

I think some hospitals in the U.S. are reconsidering their intern/resident programs because of this. Something about patients getting treated by people who've been up for 30 hours straight.

The european working time directive put an end to all that over here. We're not allowed to work longer than 13 hours and must have 11 hours off between shifts. It doesn't always work out quite like that though. Plus day-night transitions are hellish.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

The european working time directive put an end to all that over here. We're not allowed to work longer than 13 hours and must have 11 hours off between shifts. It doesn't always work out quite like that though. Plus day-night transitions are hellish.

This is good to hear. There is growing concern over the US standard of working interns at the medical level to a point that they may cause more concern than help.

Though with todays concerns, there is a need to make sure that medical personal can meet the demands of very long hours. IMO there has to be a balance between the needs of the human body and the need for first responders to be able to respond under the worst of circumstances.

 

[jimN]

I don't think that there is anyway to guarantee that you can respond even under the worst circumstances. Certainly when things start to get demanding teh adrenaline kicks in and that wakes you up but the overwhelming grogginess that comes upon you in the early hours after you spent the night (and often a lot of the day) awake is pretty hard to deal with. Sometimes taking naps can make things even worse.

 

[jimN]

It's just turned 2 and am not feeling too bad tonight - quite a surprise really given how little sleep i got during the day. Still i remembered to pack a can of red bull tonight so I can always pull out the big guns if those 'lids get too heavy.

 

[Takumi]

I see, sounds important to me, I thought it was just a job at a hotel or sumthin. Atleast you get to browse the internet.

Night shifts on the mines are usually busy.

unfortunatly if they're not you can't browes the net, howver you can sleep. It's amazing how easy it is to find a nice quite drive and knock off for 30 minutes or so.

Takumi

 

[Queso]

Hey Jim, I know you probably won't read this for some hours yet, but it will get better. As you say yourself, you're a junior doctor at the moment. Just keep your thoughts focussed on that consultancy at the Portland.

Keep up the good work. You're a much needed cog in the wheel.

 

[mpw]

...It's at times like these I wonder what they did before the internet!

Nurses?

 

[Thomas Veil]