Called in sick

I called in sick for my second night duty tonight. I'm not grossly unwell, just feeling rather run down with a sniffle and sore throat so I thought it would be best to stay away from the patients and try to recuperate at home. I slept from 9:30am till 5:30pm today. I heard about research that has shown that even if you are getting sufficient sleep during the day, working nights is not good for you. The body needs to be asleep during the wee hours (2am to 5am) to tap into the universal energy that assists the body to heal and recover. There is a higher incidence of diseases like heart disease, common colds, and depression amongst people who work nights or early morning shifts. Something to be aware of . . .

I've got a good chunk of study done in the last couple of days:

Lectures
• Time Management and prioritisation of care
• Delegation
• Managing Chronic Conditions: Arthritis

Reading
• Awareness of the other
• 'Other’-centred communication
• Non- verbal communication
• Ethical communication
• Assessment of Digestive and Gastrointestinal Function – upper gastrointestinal tract imaging, lower gastrointestinal tract imaging, CT scans, MRI, positron emission tomography, scintigraphy, gastrointestinal motility studies, oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (try pronouncing that one!), proctoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, fibreoptic colonoscopy, small bowel endoscopy, endoscopy through ostomy, defaecograpy, gastric analysis, gastric acid stimulation test, pH monitoring, laparoscopy, and psychological considerations.

Tonight I'm going to relax and probably watch a movie, drink lots of fluids and eat some nutritious food then get to bed by about midnight so I can back onto normal rhythm tomorrow. Tomorrow I'm planning to get a half hour massage. Hopefully that will be what I need to be fighting fit once more.