Night Shift



"I told the Padre the truth, man. I like it here. You get to do what you want. Nobody fucks with you. The only worry you got is dying. And if that happens, you won't know about it anyway. So what the fuck, man."

-Bunny, Platoon

I arrive for shift, usually around 22:45. If it's a night at the relatively quiet freestanding emergency department and I get lucky, the evening surge of patients is waning, and I serve in a mop-up role. By 1:30 or so I might even crash in an exam room for an hour or three. If I am in one of the two other busier ERs I work, rest is not an option. I know I am gonna be hoppin' all night long...and frankly that's also fine with me.

I used to dread the night shift. Even after years doing them, I never could quite acclimate. I would stress for two days in advance and it took me two days to recover. Now, not so much. I've discovered the night work to be much more relaxing than the days. Maybe it's because there are no administrators around. Maybe it's because night nurses are a special, tougher breed with thicker skins who roll with the punches, laugh at my un-PC jokes, and are cool as shit. Maybe it's because, like Bunny from Platoon says, no one fucks with me and I get to do what I want.

I don't bat an eye stitching up the patient cuffed and in police custody, or sitting with lonely Miss Millie Bluehair having another spell of her midnight bedroom palpitations, or the cadre of college students puking up that evening's good times. I don't even mind trimming homeless Bob's toenails. Because this is what we do on night shift. The patients are different, the staff is different...

...and I am different. No more anxiety, no more tremor. I no longer have to lament a night away from the vodka bottle to be that's evening's nocturnist. No, now I go in with a clear, caffeinated head, a normal heart rate, dry skin, and a steady hand, happy and grateful to have the opportunity. Whether consoling the assault victim or running the code blue, I'm the only doc around, often the only one awake,  on duty and rising to the occasion to do what is hardwired in me...until 7am, when the day crew arrives, hair still wet, with their fancy specialty coffees in hand.

I just started a string of nights...beginning with one tonight in the "freestanding"; you know this because I get to blog...

The first light of a June morning is upon us. Like Night on Bald Mountain, it’s time to take refuge. Peace out ✌️
















































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