Finding a Balance

I wanted to comment on Joni Watson's previous blog about balancing work and life. I too have struggled with balancing my work life and even having a personal life. For the last couple of years, my entire focus has been on getting through school and now my focus is still career related where I am trying to figure out how to be a PICU nurse. Sometimes I feel as if my nursing friends are the only ones who understand me and what I go through on a daily basis. My non-nursing friends simply don't understand what I see and have to go through on a daily basis. A lot of times they are grossed out by the things I deal with at work and don't really want to hear about it. The nursing profession is set up very different than most other careers. It's not the 9 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday job. It is very long hours, working holidays and it is working when the rest of the world is sleeping. 

I've had to make myself really work at making more of an effort to see my friends and family. That has been incredibly hard to do since starting night shift because I never quite seem to catch up on my sleep. I hope that I will soon find a balance between everything. Commenting on Joni's post, I tend not to make too many commitments, because I never know just how tired I am going to be. Which, I don't think that is working out in my favor because then I feel like I am missing out on life. I know that my career is not what completes me. It is the friends and family and all sorts of relationships that are there for you in the end. At the end of the day, its not very fun to be successful if you have no one to share it with.

Comments

[Joni Watson]

I completely agree! Believe me, I understand. I worked night shift for almost three years (as a new nurse like you), and much like you, I was always tired. Working night shift is definitely different than other nursing shifts in that you don't usually plan events around work - you plan them around sleep! I, too, worked hard to see my friends and family and reigned in my commitments.

For me, night shift worked well while I was in graduate school. I gained a tremendous amount of experience and grew as a leader. Make no mistake, though, I jumped at the chance to have a position on day shift. It was a great move for me and my family at that time.

Night shift may get easier with time, and who knows - it might even become "your" shift like it is for many nurses. On the other hand, it may not be "ideal" for you, either, right now or in the future. If not, just know that this is only a season. Take the time to glean as much as you can from it and the nurses that surround you. I now look back at my night shift days with love (not completely so when I was working them). Those night shift nurses, patients, and experiences shaped me into the nurse I am today. No matter your position or age within the nursing workforce (or general workforce for that matter), boundaries and balance are good things. Someone once told me, "You can't do everything and have everything." I'm finding that's true. Once I pinpointed my "everything," everything else came into focus. For me, I don't live to work. I work to live - even in a profession as altruistic and wonderful as nursing.