In 12 hours many can sign off on big deals, open and close up a shop, and travel across town and return.
In a 12 hour day a child goes off to school, spends the day, comes home, does homework, and heads to bed.
12 hours is quite some time; 12 hours is 720 minutes, 43,200 seconds.
For me 12 hours, is a work day; it often includes one meal, multiple medication dosages, and mostly running about trying to maintain the health and lives of those under my care. 12 hours seems so long, but often feels not long enough to provide all the care I want for my patients.
It takes not even one hour of introductions to the human being under my care and most of their life history and intimate details are revealed to me.
In that first hour my nurse brain takes immediate action. Who is this under my care? What is the health situation? What are the presenting signs and symptoms? What should and can I do during these 12 hours to make that situation even slightly better than the previous 12 hours?
But as the first hour drifts by like a blink of an eye the next few hours roll by almost as fast and I often don't get to watch the hours on the clock go by unless I'm tallying up my intakes and outputs or configuring the scheduling of my meds to cluster my care.
In those 12 hours my patients may progress or regress. They may upgrade from bedrest to chairfast, from stepdown status to regular room status. These long hours often times are not long enough for me to provide both physical care and emotional care to my patients.
12 full hours of my work day, are spent dedicating every ounce of my brains, physical strength, knowledge and emotional abilities to improve the well being of another person.
Although my day essentially starts consists of 12.5 work hours, my 8-8:30 shift is prefaced by a lengthy train ride and gym workout. Although my shift rarely ends what the night staff take over, as I often stay for hours beyond documenting the events of my day and doing just one more thing before I leave, those 12 hours are solely focused on the needs of those under my care.
My connection to the 12.5 hour day does not disappear once I leave the hospital doors. As I daydream on my ride home, or when my head finally reaches my pillow, my thoughts are on my 12 hour day. How did I do? How can I work better or more efficiently? What did I forget? It is either my neurotic nurse behavior, nurse instincts, or just me being a typical novice; that I often spend the first few minutes at home texting the night staff to double check something or another.
However, as I will look back at my days, my weeks, and my life I know that the 12 hours I spent on my shifts were hours well spent. These hours consisted if me caring, me thinking, me moving, me learning, and me attempting to help others simultaneously to my becoming a stronger, better and more constructive human being. Most individuals spend 12 hours of their day performing multiple tasks and have multiple purposes. My 12 hours on the unit are uni-focal: to optimize and maintain the health level of those under my care. I spend those 12 hours with a sense of purpose, and with a hope of touching others lives and with a desire to make a difference.
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