jon's blog

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

project 355: the perils of the night

the people in this world can generally be separated into two different types: the ones who thrive on the light & the ones who thrive on darkness. as much as i would like to do a post pertaining to all things occult, this one won't be it. what i'm talking about is with reference to the people who function better depending on the time of the day. some of us are simply more productive during the daylight hours, being coming up with better ideas, thinking out of the box, saying the world's wisest things; all that corporate shit. whereas others, are just born to be night people. maybe it's photosynthesis or solar-powered-skin efficiency, but the body, just like God and the drinks dispenser machine which has a tendency to cheat your money, works in mysterious ways.

i vividly remember my sex with the second ex-boyfriend of a three-year relationship. he was one of those people who simply fared better at night, shedding his mild-mannered nature at the strike of twelve midnight to turn into a ravenous beast of sorts. we had a lot of sex and not that it was bad during the day, but i'm not one to decline even better sex during the night.

all that said, i'm definitely not a night person. well, not at least when it comes to working my ass off in the hospital, serving urinals and bedpans at the most ungodly of hours. to me, the nights should be spent outside of work and home. clubbing, hitting the bars, spa-ing or even just a bit of coffee to help prolong the nights. the only exception i have for being at home is if you are sharing a bed with someone else, be it yours or the other party's. regardless, i've never liked working at night because i simply can't function rationally at night. i have a tendency to be as melancholic and withdrawn as a Wong Kar Wai film during the darkness.

thus it was with great sighs of irritation and even more trepidation that i prepared myself for the next four days of night shifts to come, the first of them which began on Monday. of course, it wouldn't have been a big deal if not for the fact that the next four days would be the first ever night shifts that i've done in my entire Registered Nurse career. you see, i've always had the good fortune of being able to avoid the nights, despite having worked at the organization for nearly seven months coming. this lack of night duties actually works well for me because my body gets tired at night faster than you can even say 'caffeine rush'. falling short of sex, there are prolly two other things that can keep me awake, namely: coffee & cigarettes.

being an amateur at working in the wee hours, i therefore prepared myself by stocking up on both energy sources as much as possible. that and trying to sleep as much as possible for the whole of Monday afternoon. true to the concept of Murphy's Law, my attempt to restore energy backfired on me by making me feel more tired than i was before i slept. as i made my lethargic way to the hospital that evening, i thought back to my one and only experience with the night shift back in the student nursing days. all i had to do back then was present a urinal to a patient now and then. perhaps clear a few diapers and wipe up a few dirty asses. but other than that, it was nothing too drastic. i even had time to 'disappear' like an apparition to the tearoom for a bit of a night time siesta.

fast forward to today, with power comes great responsibility. as a registered nurse, i wish i could just disappear like i did during the student times, and perhaps head to the roof for a long smoke break while staring at the stars. but alas, i have to write reports and administer intravenous medications and entertain all the crazy requests of the patients and their relatives. i've received calls from unknown relatives of patients at 2am, asking for updates about their loved one's conditions. thank goodness for the concept of 'patient-practitioner confidentiality'. it's the perfect way to politely tell someone to sod off without having to worry about complaint letters.

but it's really true what they say, that evil really lurks during the night. the ward where i work at has a history of mysterious ongoings. from spinning heads without the bodies to women in red or white floating around. there's even this famous hospital urban legend about the ward sister who passed away from tongue cancer. she wander around in the wards, prolly looking for painkillers or a scalpel or the chemotherapy department and when she bumps into someone, she'll unfurl her very long tongue and scare the shit out of people. i've watched too much of Supernatural to not take urban legends seriously, so much so that i've taken to go around the hospital at night with my cellphone. there's this scientific theory about mobile networks being a spirit-deterrent. whether the theory is true, it hasn't been put to the test yet. and i'm hoping not.

still, a close encounter sort of put my supernatural instincts into perspective. a female patient with diabetic foot problems spent the entire night moaning and groaning in pain. she was on the lucid side and the only things she could say were 'Aaaah. Aaah. Aaaah.' we loaded her with enough painkillers to whack out Samson without the need for a hair-trim. and she was still going on Aaaah-ing, except that it was more diminished now. it wasn't till much later at 3am that we were alerted by a patient staying opposite her that she had 'fell' out of a bed. 'fell' being a very loosely defined term here. it was actually more like 'slipped' because she was being nursed on a body restraint, and a rather tight one at that. it was practically impossible to move about in bed with that body restraint. my colleagues and i lifted her back in bed and put her on hand restraints this time. now she was as strapped up as a bitch in bondage.

but here's the mysterious Twilight Zone bit. about an hour later, she slipped off again. we found her in the same position, with one of the hand restraints having been seemingly loosened. and believe me, i may not be a boy scout or a sailor in hot white pants, but i can tie knots very well. dead knots to be exact. the only problem of course is undoing them. regardless, she slipped out of bed despite all the restraints that we have initiated on her. as i smothered the goosebumps that had risen on my arms, i really thought that something was amiss here. i've heard stories of bed-ridden cancer patients who do not have the ability to wriggle about in bed. YET, they have managed to slip out of the bed. which is really frustrating, because how do you explain to the relatives when someone incapable of general movement has sustained a fall when all the fall precautions have already been initiated? my colleagues and i all agreed that it must be the work of the spirits because i wasn't the only one who had the goosebumps. she spent the whole night Aaah-ing so much, that she must have really pissed off somebody... or something.

well, that's the first night. today's already the third and frankly speaking, i'm already suffering from insomnia. apologies if i don't reply emails, comments and the general means of communication. regardless, i'm looking forward to the end of the nights because frankly speaking, i can't wait to get some 'Aaaah Aaaah-ing' action of my own.

it's been two weeks.

posted at 4:49 pm by the nurse | Permalink |

24 Comments:

is that new profile photo of yours taken during one of the night shifts?
By Veeen, at 2:42 am

I'm totally the opposite. I much prefer the night shift... no family members around; the floor isn't crazed; and doctors aren't screaming orders left and right. And I certainly don't give out my cell number under any circumstance (that's what the gatekeeper desk clerk is for). It's a time where I can get some really nursing done in terms of assessments without distractions. And quite honestly, I get a bit of a kick calling MD's in the middle of the night to report a new finding that he/she needs to come in for.

Yeah, I still have to clean some bedpans and wipe some asses, but I don't feel as rushed. My focus can totally be on the patient's needs and well-being. I don't have colleagues asking, "can you check Rm. XX, while I XX..."

It's the morning shifts where I'm coming in with my coffee, cigarettes, and energy bars; Not being fully coherent until the late afternoon. I'm just totally in mechanical mode... AM care, vitals, administer meds... trying to find a moment to compare nursing progress notes... And then once I've fulfilled all of my responsibilities, and my Pt's are semi-stable, trying to find a moment to dash out for a cigarette to get me through the rest of the shift.

The night shift is also my time to chat it up with the Pt's who can't sleep. I even found myself with one Pt. who couldn't sleep saying to him, "Well heck, if you can't sleep, move over and let's talk about life... my 'dawgz' are killing me!" He just laughed hysterically. But then his standing order for a sedative kicked in and he was out like a light. Ah well...
By DChizzle, at 4:08 am

hi there. find it interesting reading your writing. not too sure if u r keen to meet up. think i work around your hospital. cheers...
By Anonymous, at 8:47 am

Hi been reading your blog. I'm also a day person and nite drains off my energy faster than day even coffee cant keep me awake. my brain will just go malfunctioning. anyway i like Nescafe Intense(brown black packaging) than the green color packaging ( i assume is rich ).

nigel.
By Anonymous, at 9:35 am

prefer your previous profile photo..
By Anonymous, at 10:39 am

i'm a night person. i'm restless in the day, so if I don't rest up between sunrise and sunset, i'll be the grumpiest polar bear you can ever find, i guess... thus the reason why i used to conk out during lessons in school and why i would stone at work. heex... and i think coffee makes me more sleepy than to wake me up.

and jon, GO GET SOME SLEEP AFTER TOMORROW! cheerios!
By a collaborative thinker, at 11:40 am

i realize you love taking pictures of your fag box... LOL

night shift nurses rock. They're much kinder ppl... as far as I've experienced Haha..
By Sham Radio, at 12:20 pm

ah, you changed your display pic. certainly different from the last one. it portrays a slightly wilder side of you. i must say i liked the last one better. =)
By E R I C, at 5:48 pm

veeen: yeah i was tired. i was playing with my handphone. and i was sitting in a wheelchair. how to resist the temptation?

dchizzle: i'm glad you've managed to find a love for the night shift. and i somewhat can appreciate the stuff that you mentioned about the lack of relatives, the lack of sudden orders jumping out from the Medical Officers, etc. still, i very much prefer the adrenaline rush of the morning shift where there's non-stop action. time passes faster too. plus when i do go up to the roof for a smoke, i don't have to keep turning back to see if there's someone else lurking behind me. nights are just not cut out for me. my sleep cycle now is seriously screwed up.

nigel: frankly speaking, coffee is something that my body still hasn't tamed yet. sometimes it kicks in very fast. sometimes it doesn't even kick in at all. hell, i don't even feel the diuretic effects of coffee in the first place. cigarettes though.... that's a different story now.

fiexx: i'm am so gonna pop some sleeping pills and down it with alcohol and knock myself out. WOOT!

dj_ck: that's not true. night shift nurses are one of the crankiest people around. that plus the screwed sleep hours. not exactly the most caring of nurses.

blurboi & all the rest of the people who've commented on my new profile pic: not exactly one of the best shots. but it never hurt to be ugly once in a while, no? it's prolly gonna stay for a while till i find something better.
By the nurse, at 6:22 pm

Hey you have ladies in white and red as well! So do we :P Why didn't you serve some midazolam to the ooh aah diabetic lady?

But I like the nights as well. Quiet usually.
By savante, at 12:08 am

I love the nights - serene and peaceful. Just not the nights at the hospital. I once spent a night in a hospital to accompany my mum and there was this old nenek moaning and groaning on the next bed. It broked my heart to hear those sounds but it freaked me out totally when the sounds stopped. She passed on that night. And I teared when I heard the medical staff telling the family how peacefully she went. A white lie no doubt, but I can't help but picture myself in her shoes. Call me selfish but I definitely want someone close to me to be with me during the process no matter how painful it may turn out to be.

Death is just not my cup of tea. So I guess the hospital is out for me. I'll stick to the clubs for now.

- Wyl
By Anonymous, at 12:34 am

I dun usually like songs on blogs because i find it fucking irritating, but i like yours, think you have a good choice of music
By Dayvid Chia,, at 2:20 am

nighty person here, nicer pic but the ciggie's overly suggestive..lol
By Cyclohelix, at 3:39 am

"When i do go up to the roof for a smoke, i don't have to keep turning back to see if there's someone else lurking behind me."

C'mon, Jon... the roof... the darkness... tense staff workers... combine them altogether and you might find yourself in one hell of a 'stress-release' situation.

Actually, there's a park adjacent to one of the hospitals I worked at where all staff members knew was a cruising ground at night during the Summer months... not that I participated in such activities... hehehe
By DChizzle, at 4:03 am

ssshhhhh....aaaAAhhhhh......sshhszz.....aaaAAaaaaaaahhhHHHHH......
By Anonymous, at 1:39 pm

SN Jon,if u remember me,im the fat and big student nurse from ite... wouldnt reveal my name,but im sure u know who am i...the one who asked u what shift u workin... hmmm,jus wana say that it was fun n an honour to work wif ya...

im lookin forward to work wif ya again... take care and i must say that ure such a charmer...u definitely left an everlastin impression on me... thank you for guiding me...
By Anonymous, at 9:57 pm

I heard about the ward sister who passed away with tongue cancer too. It give me creeps.

I love and hate night shifts. I love the peace and quiet. I hate it when I tend to get paranoid and keep looking over shoulders.

The new photo looks great! :)
By Anonymous, at 2:32 am

found any red slippers under the bed or around the wards???

sounds spooky!
By EarlGreyTea, at 10:34 pm

This comment has been removed by the author.
By a collaborative thinker, at 12:16 am

i assume you popped the pills and fell asleep... -_-... ZzZ
By a collaborative thinker, at 12:16 am

I love night shift more quiet. But time passes slowly. I did night shift during attachment. My friend's mom saw me on the bus next morning and said I look haggard. Oh Man !!! I turn old over just one night.
By NeoNeo, at 3:02 am

hm...i also not a nite person...everyday after 12 i wan to sleep ler...haha...i'm also working in the hospital wan...but not a nurse or doctor...which hospital u work?maybe we working same place...lol
By Anonymous, at 10:13 pm

savante: nights are quiet? ok lah. with me around. i'm quite a bastard because i withhold beds from the A&E people at night. they are very irritating if you ask me.

wyl: at night, all the demons come out. people seem very nice during the day time. but when darkness sets in, it's where people's true natures are revealed. same for patients lah. they are become really troublesome at night man.

dayvid: neither do i like other people's blogs who have music. but can't say the same for myself lah. thanks for the compliment!

cyclohelix: suggestive of?

dchizzle: oooh. if only my workplace had a park like that. okay... perhaps we do, but you need to walk at least 20 minutes minimum to get there.

itestudent: yeah i remember. i'm not very friendly with students because i only see them for two weeks and never see them again. so forgive me if i'm very cold to you guys. thanks for popping by and saying hi though. come back to ward again.

foxy: it's an urban legend. and urban legends are almost always true. so don't play play.

earlgraytea: i found stools that were blood-stained. that does count as red too?

fiexx: yes, indeed. and it was quite a deep sleep i must say. slept from 10am to 9pm.

neoneo: same! i look in the mirror and i see the future. it looks horrible.

lirvin: you email me then i tell you.
By the nurse, at 4:22 am

Hey Jon.. ravenous beast after midnight eh?

Indeed I'm more of a night person. Maybe that explains why I'm on permanent graveyard shift.

You can try Red Bull to keep you awake during the wee hours. Coffee only seems to work for me in the day.

Cheers,
the Ex
By Anonymous, at 4:33 am