The big switch...

M. has teased me since we were married about my "night owl" tendencies. I've just made it official- I'm now a rotating "night-evening" nurse. I had my first night shift last night, and it went pretty well, but it was a slow night on the floor. Our floor has what amounts to two night shifts- P's- 7 pm to 7:30 am, which is what I worked last night, and N's- 11 pm-7:30 am. In some respects, the 12 hour shifts are actually easier because you have 12 hours to get all your stuff done. No matter how long you're there, you have to give medications at the proper time and respond to new situations in a timely manner, but in either an 8 or a 12 hour shift, you still only have to do one head to toe assessment, and one full set of charting for each patient, thus in a 12 hour shift you have more time to get the paperwork done. Also, night is a lot slower since fewer medications are administered, there isn't testing going on (unless it's an emergency). There's still plenty to do, but the pace is different. I'm not sure which I like better- the nights get me more time to accommodate and learn, but the days give me more stuff to learn. In some respects I'd prefer days- more people around as backup, more things happening to learn about, but nights have their strong side too. Anyway, now my regular sleep schedule will be from about 9am to 5 pm. That will leave me enough time to get to whichever shift I end up working. Since I'm up all night tonight, but not working I think I'll get a bunch of cleaning done. Hooray!