I keep sitting down to blog but don’t really know what to say. Obviously I should talk about my trip, my patients, the ship but it’s starting to become a bit ordinary to me. Amazing how a world so different than my daily life in the US is becoming mundane. So instead of trying to be elaborate I’m just going to describe my day.
Right now I am working night shift. I make the schedule so I try to make sure everyone has a few days off to rest. Mostly these days are for liberty (a day on shore) or just recovery on the boat. My day starts at 1530 when I wake up and have a snack. Usually I’m pretty hungry because I missed lunch (from 1100-1215). I teach a spin class every other day and on my off days I try to run. Unfortunately I have not seen any metric results from my daily workout…but it does help the mood. After my workout, I quickly shower. We have 2 bathrooms. The one closest to my room has about 8 showers so there is never a line in the afternoon and rarely in the morning. I have to use the shower in the back right because all the ones in front of that are way too hot. Temperature control is not something the ships engineer is overly concerned with…plus I hate hot showers most of the time. I get back to my room and try to cool off…putting on a long sleeved, two layered uniform after working out is hot. Usually there is a roomie or two taking a nap so I can’t use my hairdryer…I head back to the bathroom to dry the hair. (Side note: still trying to decide if I am going to cut the hair in Singapore. I like it short but love my pictures with long hair. Decisions, decisions.) After all this and double checking to make sure I have the right uniform pieces on (like my belt)…I head to chow. If I remember correctly its about 66 steps from berthing to the chow deck. Not sure how I manage those after working out but usually after a quick breather on the O-1 level I get there. (Seriously, you’d think I’d be used to them by now!) I love chow. Not the food but the people. The CS (culinary specialists) and FSA (food service attendants) are great. It’s the same ones everyday and I try to say hi to each of them and thank them. I’ve gotten to have a few conversations with them and hopefully will be able to get to know them better. I always ask for smaller portions because they seem to reward being nice with more food. I usually then eat dinner in the wardroom with 50 or so other officers. Then to work…
Night shift has been good to me. Most of the time all the kids are back from the OR and it’s just a matter of pain management so they can sleep well. I’ve noticed a few differences between our post-op kids in the States and the ones here…mostly that these kids are more affected by anesthesia and don’t wake up as easily. About a ¼th are nauseous constantly after waking up and almost all require little to no pain medicine. Now granted, our surgeries are not usually complex. We do a lot of inguinal hernia repairs, cleft lips, dental procedures, a few mass excisions and several other “simple” surgeries. I did have a girl the other day with a urinary catheter and a catheter coming from her right kidney, draining mostly blood into both. She went back to the OR today and will have an open removal of obstructive kidney stones. All kids that are higher acuity usually stay in our 4 bed ICU. (Have to make sure everyone earns their paycheck. J) After 2100 it’s lights out. Of course there are the list of collaterals and charge nurse responsibilities but after those are accomplished I usually can email family/friends and facebook stalk everyone. Midrats (midnight rations) are literally at midnight. They consist of leftovers from that day and sometimes a pleasant surprise, ie corndogs or chicken nuggets. Usually they are terrible. By now (0300) I can start making phone calls. Everything is still settled, most meds have been given and vital signs done…and the rest of the world is almost off work! We’re about 10hrs behind (and 1 day ahead of )the West Coast. Then I try to do a little reading or paperwork. About then everyone else starts showing up…about 0600. We muster everyday at 0630, rain, shine, day on, day off… the accountability is important on the ship because they want to make sure no one has fallen off! And in the military if you are on time, you’re late…so plan on getting there 15min early. After muster, it’s back to bed and time to do it all over again.
Occasionally I try to change the schedule by throwing a laundry day in (my days are Wednesday and Saturday), or a roommate movie night (which happen less now that I’m on nights). But really it’s like groundhog day around here everyday.
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