As on Friday

The endless pursuit of a good nights sleep.

Eludes me and I find myself more tired in the morning than I was during the evening before bed.

My work, in aged care, exhausts me on one level, makes me alive on another.

I come home late, a strange cauldron of emotions, thoughts and physical sensations.

Depending on who you talk to, I am a nurse.

To me, at my level, I am more than happy to settle with the title of Assistant in Nursing or AIN for short.

Many nurses I have met don't like AINs referring to themselves as nurses and in all honesty, I get it.

It comes down to a respect thing.

Hours of study, placement, experience fill the wide divide between AIN and 'real' nurse.

I recognize this.

I respect it.

Still, the tiredness.....that is a feature we share no matter what rank or station you fill in the many classifications of nursing.

Exhaustion joins us.

From the moment of shift change to the second you clock out, it never stops.

Never.

There is always something to do, someone to attend to, some report to make, paperwork to fill, medication to give, bed to change and on and on.

At work there is very little time for much else than work, giving you a time void of sorts to lose yourself in, where the outside work ceases to exist and all that matters is what is in front of you.

At times, theses time voids are a blessing, like for example when Prue left and right up to now, the only place she is not on my mind is at work.

At work I forget about it all, focused only on the job at hand.

Today is Friday and I work one Friday per fortnight.

Tonight is it.

After a couple of late shifts in a row I am looking forward to tonight being it for the weekend at least.

I am tired and sore with a lot on my mind.

The nest is a mess, the dog is bored with me and my sedinary lifestyle.

The coffee is being made to get me through this morning and I have tons to do with very little energy to do it with.

This is my Friday.

Stay safe friends, be kind.

Lisa x