Yesterday was our first full shift at the hospital - 7:00 am to 7:30 pm - FUN! As Justin headed up the stairs I entered the 7th circle of hell. I was not stoked about having to do this shift on Sunday, and had explicitly told my instructor that I did not want to work on Sundays. Soooo, guess who has to work 3 Sundays? Yup, me. We have to work 4-12 hours shifts and 3 of mine are on Sunday (well one is Saturday night which spills into Sunday morning). I had no choice. I dealt with it. This is Justin's only weekend shift. Super.
So I go onto the unit and meet my preceptor/instructor for the day. I'm supposed to be assigned a patient to take care of for the day, but the unit is super slow and they have tons of empty beds. So I just follow her around for the day so I can get maximum exposure to all the fun stuff!! I made it through the day unscathed except for my poor little ears and eyes (Ears from hearing and eyes from bulging out of their sockets). I literally heard the "F" word 1,208,098,0942 times yesterday, the "B" word 948,0923 times, "Sh" 983,982,0992,0945 times, "GD" 453,9425 times and the list goes on and on.
I heard so much vulgarity in that shift - more than when I have worked with adolescents in the psychiatric hospital, more than when I went to the juvenile detention centers, and the jails. Who knew health care "professionals" had such potty mouths!! At the end of the day they turned to me and said, "We hope we haven't offended you today." I was at a loss for words - so I blurted out - "I'm not usually around a lot of cursing so it was kind of hard, and I don't curse sooo..." They all looked at me like a bunch of stunned banshee's - "Oh, that's weird," one of them so eloquently stated and then they turned and continued on in their ways. I stood there and happily thought - "They think I'm weird.....what a relief!" Not fitting in made me proud....I AM WEIRD never sounded so good!!
