217: 10.10 Night Shifts

Tonight has been eerily quiet, thank God. The patients on the ward are stable, we have cleared A&E early so there has been a nice lull for me - I have to admit it has been a while since my bleep has gone off.

Didn’t get much of a nap in the afternoon. My pathetic attempt at a siesta involved a lot of restless tosses and turns with my eyemask firmly secured. I counted sheep, I counted backwards - no successful numerical antidote to my alertness. If I did doze off, it was definitely a light snooze - the kind where you are half asleep yet on the brink consciousness. After 2 hours of this, I abandoned ship and decided to have dinner early before heading to work.

I was worried that I would be extra tired tonight - but Alhamdulillah it has been fine. In these quiet periods, I have learnt to attempt a short snooze, even if it is for a minute. It is important to recharge. But although I can feel my eyes getting heavy, I still can’t bring myself to sleep. Maybe it was the last ditch attempt through emergency caffeine consumption that has rewired my brain to choose the former of the fight or flight response (I don’t drink caffeine ever - but desperate times calls for desperate measures).

I am predicting a really grumpy self on the way home tomorrow morning. Either from being sleep deprived or from a coffee virgin hangover.