Saturday, March 28, 2009

Walk #85: A Predawn Walk...

Work Duration: Thirty minutes...

Friday. I awoke quite early (4:30 am) and decided to take a walk before my shower and work. Since I was doing officey sorts of work with bankers hours, I had time. Walking around in the early morning. Too early for the first nurses to show up for their 6:30 am start time. My first obligation was the 9:00 am meeting.

Quiet. Most lights out.

This is unusual for me; I'm not disciplined in any fashion whatsoever. Bedtime is usually when I'm tired and can't hold the book up to read any longer. As a nurse, when working, I have to get up painfully early. That's one thing I do not like about this profession---the early start times, the 24/7 schedules. Weekends are just another workday, potentially. And Holidays? we are obligated to work at least half of them.

But there is another thing that happens with nurses: they become very flexible with their time. Stay up all night? no problem. Get up early and work? no problem. Work extra or varied shifts? no problem. The resilient nurses I know can switch their schedules (and bodies) on a dime's notice. Admirable folk...

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