Vampire

This week I'm working the graveyard shift: 10pm to 8am. I don't mind it actually. In the middle of the night, the ED (or ICU) is probably the busiest place in the entire hospital (there's even a supply person who's on call in the ED) but even here things start to cool down. Usually we can clear out the waiting room by 2 or 3 in the morning. Patients seem to come in three flavors at 2 in the morning: true emergencies, homeless people looking for a place to stay, and accidents related to drinking. The latter two aren't too exciting, and can be somewhat frustrating at times - spend a day in an emergency department and you will see a dozen people show up with complaints that don't belong in an ED ("I think I might be pregnant, but I can't afford a pregnancy test" and "My teeth have been hurting for months, but I decided to take an ambulance here at 4 in the morning." But the acute emergencies are great cases and with fewer residents at night, I can see more of them, learn more, and do more procedures. The pace is variable, but I've still learned not to procrastinate on my charting because it can get crazy really really quickly. By the end of the night, I'm exhausted, and it's a little taxing on my circadian rhythms as it feels like severe jet-lag. Although the shifts are much better than being on call, it has a different feel since the bulk of my work and wakefulness has to happen during vampire hours whereas on call, that's when I do my least acute work and try to take a nap.