I Can Do Anything for 12 Hours

I work 12 hours shifts.  3 Shifts a week.  I know, sounds amazing...only having for work three days a week.  It's amazing, but not that amazing.  By the time the end of those three days roll around, it often feels as though you've been hit by a train.  The days off are great, don't get me wrong, but the three on are brutal.
I wish sometimes I could carry you all around in my pocket.  My invisible little friend that sees all, then I won't have to work so hard to recollect things for you.  Sometimes I want people to see what I actually do, because to just tell you, you wouldn't believe me.  Some of the stuff I do is pretty typical of a nurse, but there is other stuff that you just won't believe until you see it.

Recently my shifts have been composed of this: "Kelsy, you can do anything for 12 hours."

I'm passing pain pills to one patient, I hear a bed alarm sounding(the alarm that dings when someone who shouldn't be out of bed, is out of bed), I go running into the other patients room, luckily no is on the floor.  I get the patient back to bed, I say, "Now, don't get out of bed.  You're unsteady and we don't want you to fall.  We want you to be safe."  I tuck them in, turn my back, heading out the doorway, and there goes the alarm again.  They're crawling out of bed.  They've completely forgotten what I said.  And this goes on for 12 hours.  "I can do anything for 12 hours."
I knock, enter room, ask patient how they are doing.  "Well I'm freezing cold, my shoulders hurt, the food here sucks, and I want to go home."  Okay.  I get a warm blanket, make a hot pack for the shoulders, and grab an ice cream from the freezer.  Return to patient, give patient my offering, ask patient if there is anything else I can do.  "Just get the hell out of my room."  Really, "I can do anything for 12 hours"
Patient is unresponsive, breathing....stable, but unresponsive.  Patient is a full code.  I'm looking at patient thinking, on paper everything looks fine, but when you look at patient, everything does not look fine.  I call doc to come see patient, she says, they're stable, we'll get more things going in the morning.  Things will go better in the morning, but what about my patient right now.  It's 0100 in the morning and I want to keep from pumping on a chest until I have to go home.  I'm watching, chest rise, chest fall, chest rise.  Every ten minutes I'm looking in on patient, still alive.  My heart feels as though it's beating through my chest all night.  "I can do anything for 12 hours."

This has been my mantra lately.  I think of all the awful things I've seen.  All the disgusting ways I've been treated when I'm trying so hard to make it better.  All the frustration that comes with certain types of patients.  All of it.  I could go on and on about the dirty, crazy, and stressful things that I could do for 12 hours.  I won't bore you with that.....but......if you ever need any help for 12 hours.....I'm your girl, because literally, with what I do, I can do anything for 12 hours.  For reelz.