Burnout Day.

Yes. I have reached that point of utter burnout. It's 5 p.m. My shift ends at 6:30 p.m. I worked my butt off to get all my work done except for one 6 p.m. blood gas. And so I sit in a chair feeling good about going home soon. My feet hurt. My eyes burn. My body feels like a wet noodle. And I feel good as my day is soon coming to an end. All I have to do is one easy blood gas. 

And then the phone rings. And I end up spending an hour and a half hauling one complicated ventilator patient to a cat scan. And then I get done with that and a nurse wants me to check on a COVID patient with low sats. And then another nurse wants me to switch a COVID patient on CPAP to a high flow nasal cannula so he can eat. 

And then finally I make it to the cave. And I am pooped. And the night shift RT wants a report. And I'm so pooped I can't even remember what I need to give a report on. So I have to log into a computer to gather the information I need. 

Burnout. My eyes burn. My body aches. My feet ache. And now I'm sitting here, a glass of wine in by my side, relaxing. I tell you what, it's days like this that make you appreciate days off. 

And today was actually a good day. We have three ventilator patients. But we had no intubations today. The last three days I worked had one intubation each day. And after you intubate, you have to spend a lot of time with these patients. And so it's a lot of intensity all day. And throw in a few extra shifts, and that leads to today: burnout day. 

It's like you're running on steam all day. And the calls keep coming. And, even though you don't want to, you keep trudging along. And you keep up your spirits as best you can. And you try to be nice to everyone. And you notice that all the other therapists and nurses you are working with are in the same burnout mode. 

So, this is a well-deserved glass of wine.