Night Shift

I had my first two night shifts this last week. It usually starts off pretty crazy--like I literally started with cleaning up diarrhea of a 400lb man; me, my preceptor, the day shift nurse, and an EMT had to all help hold and clean him up. By the end of the shift, things start to slow down and it's much easier to get caught up with all my work.

The night shift nurses all love me so far! There are new hires that started Day 1 of their orientation on night shift, so compared to them, I'm pretty knowledgeable and independent since I'm on my 2nd to the last week of orientation. I'm also used to staying on my toes during the busy hours of day shift, so I stay proactive even as the night shift starts to slow down. My preceptor told me I'm ready to be on my own and she doesn't know why I'm paired up with her, which is so encouraging to hear, compared to day shift who had seen me when I was new and awkward.

I do know though that I'm lacking in experience with critical patients. Two weeks in the critical rooms and still no full code with me as the primary nurse or pushing critical drugs. Hopefully I experience that before I'm off my preceptorship. Four more shifts to go till I'm on my own!