A long time ago my husband had a great idea (most all of his ideas are good ideas) for a story. He told me there isn’t really a word in the Mvskoke language for ‘good morning’ but there’s a phrase that kind of translates to something along the lines of- Did you make it through the night okay?- it’s like a way to check on the health and wellness of your friends and loved ones. I think that’s so much better than boring ‘Good Morning’. 

Working nights I think about that phrase a lot. It’s nearing 4 am when I’m the busiest on shift. Checking labs, giving my patient a bath, restocking the room for day shift, making sure all my drip bags are full of medicine, but mostly… making sure my patient made it through the night okay. In a couple hours or so day shift will come in with their freshly washed hair, clean scrubs and a holiday themed iced coffee. I will give some long lengthy report on my patient, their health history, surgery details, every mark and scar and incision will be discussed and poked at; all it really boils down to though, is making sure they made it through the night okay, and if they didn’t, what’s next? 

I love working nights. The sky darkens before I even clock in, and I watch the sun start coming up when I leave. I tuck patient’s in, give updates to family and send them off to their homes or hotels, promising that I will update in the morning. I work among the shadows, never turning lights on, using my night vision to check drains, chest tubes, charting on impella flows and ventilator settings, checking blood sugars, fluffing pillows in between giving pain medicine and titrating drips to keep their hearts beating and their blood pressure sustained. 

We are the navy blue clad hospital fairies. In and out of rooms before you even realize we are there. It’s my favorite shift, but it’s also mentally draining and physically difficult. It costs us years off our lives to work in the ‘upside down’. We bank up naps and go days without sleeping more than a couple hours at a time. Girl dinners are happening in every hospital around 2am every night. We cut out sleep so we can spend time with family during the day. It’s a necessary evil. Not everyone can handle it, but to me, it’s absolutely worth it.

It’s all so worth it to be there and make sure you made it through the night okay.