The dangers of sleep deprivation!

“I wasn’t really asleep I was just mediating on unconsciousness”
-Author Unknown



For some people one of the more unpleasant parts of being a nurse is the dreaded night shift.

Personally I’ve always preferred nights because for the most part there are less people like managers, doctors and families to slow me down or make my job generally harder to do. I also like nights because these days the truth of it is that at least in my neck of the woods the pay incentives to do so actually amount to something.

Bottom line for this Angry Nurse not only do I like night shifts,it’s all I work!

This is so much the case that even on my days off I maintain a night schedule. In fact for me 0400(4am for you non 24 hours clock types)is the same as 1600(4pm for you non 24 hours clock types).

I bring this up because one of my petty amusements is watching the “I hate nights” types struggle over the 0400 hump. These night haters will resort to any number of methods to stay awake sometimes with less success than others. Coffee is the rule for most, while others simply don’t stop moving. Keep this in mind just in case you someday find yourself in ER at night and wonder why certain nurses are circling like sharks.

But as previously mentioned sometimes despite the best laid plans things just don’t work out as intended. I have seen nurses fall asleep not only standing up, but while waiting on hold on the phone. In fact I once saw one poor girl actually strike her head on a desk because two minutes after she sat in a chair not only did she fall asleep, she fell over!

But my all time favorite sleep deprivation reaction occurred the other night. One of my colleagues who is not known for his love of nights was trying to bleary eyes and all dial the phone. Suddenly his eyes widened and he slammed the phone down. That action was followed by the equivalent of an Oh my god, and a chuckle. He then went on to explain that he had intended to dial the lab to add on some blood work but had instead dialed his home phone number where his wife who is also an ER nurse was in all likely hood sleeping contently.

Sadly he didn't actually mention if the phone had rang or not. But just the same the implications of his half asleep mistake offered a considerable number of amusing possibilities as to what could have happened if the phone had rung at his home, or perhaps worse what would have been his wife's reaction had she actually been woken up to answer.

Personally my money was on his loving wife rather than getting mad simply agreeing to do the blood work so she could find out later how long it took for him to figure it out that his add on blood work wasn't going to be done.