Surviving my first-night duty
If you can survive the night shift, you can survive anything life throws at you.
I survived!
Hello, y’all. I was finally posted to work 16 hours; it’s something we call bi-duty. Bi meaning 2. The reason why it’s up to 16 hours instead of 8 is that, during the early days of the establishment, a lot of nurses got raped and robbed for coming to work by 5–6 pm. So, to curb such attitude, work officially resumes by 4 pm.
That way, the bi-duty nurse is against traffic and is expected to come early.
Since I found out I am on bi-duty, I have been having minute anxiety episodes. Thinking about it now, I haven’t prayed about my shift, will do that as soon as i am done here.
Crazy thoughts like ‘What if a patient dies during my shift?’ keeps popping up in my head. Prayer Point: No patient dies in my hands.
I can’t help the thought because I saw how nervous a colleague was when a patient died during her shift. Thank God the autopsy report stated otherwise, else she would have been in hot soup right now. The parents of the deceased were ready to burn down the whole of Lagos to make sure she went down.
And it got me thinking: the nurse isn’t the only one in charge of patient care. Why is she the only one bearing the brunt of the terrible situation?
I also tried to put myself in the shoes of the deceased parents. Even though I kept blaming them for waiting until the case was critical before bringing their child to the hospital. I understood that grief can bring out the worst in one. Maybe they picked on the nurse because she seemed like the weakest, maybe.
Then I look at myself and the odds stacked against me. I am from a different tribe that was maimed during the last election by a certain tribe. This certain tribe makes up over 90% of the workforce at my place of work.
There are certain stereotypes I have heard them say about my tribe, but my favourite is that we love and excel in business. So I see some of them coming to ask me for business ideas. This is me focusing on the positives.
Back to my anxiety, while I look at the odds against me, I remember who is in me and by whose authority I breathe. God’s.
So, as I take over the shift today, I take over with the Holy Spirit. No patient dies in my hands. If there has been an agreement with death because I come by the blood, such agreement is annulled or postponed.
Wishing myself a calm shift. Now, let’s go save lives.
UPDATE:
I had a calm shift, and no patient died. I was exhausted and fell sick at the end of the 16 hours. I felt so cold and hungry throughout the night. But no patient died. That’s a win.
Today, I am going in for my second shift, and I have socks, cardigans, small chops, food, water, etc. I refuse to grow a wrinkle because of nursing.
Have a great day.
