How to get in the zone?

I think one of the good things about being a nurse is that time often flies. Before I know it I'm 4 hours into my shift and almost halfway done.

Nursing is the only job I've had where I wish time would stop so that I could catch up! I feel as though my shift starts and I am on top of a hill with a freight train chained to my ankle…I start walking….then start doing the run/walk then running full on and I'm thinking "this is going pretty good, I'm ahead of it" then I look back and "HOLY C--P…it's gaining on me!" I start tumbling down the hill and before I know it, the train has plowed me down and now it's dragging me full speed down the hill, flopping around behind it like a fish out of water. Then After I'm done with shift change report…I get up from the floor, brush the dirt off and push the hair out of my eyes and drag my sorry butt towards elevator thinking "I survived"

My experience has been that I am so busy that by the time I look up I realize I have almost missed my opportunity for a lunch break. I tie up loose ends and attempt a lunch and potty break. By the time I get back it is only a few more hours until it is time to go home. Being busy sometimes has its rewards. Yes, take a bath. Do whatever you want to do because until you clock in again it is your time. A needlessly long warm bath sounds awesome!

When I worked in the hospitals and the shift was chaotic, we nurses would look at the clock.....if it said 11:10, we'd tell each other, "It's almost 12!" We'd get through the shift like that. Folks thought we were nuts, but even though it was kind of funny-stupid, it helped us to know that the light at the end of the tunnel was coming!

It's so true! I worked with a nurse who used to literally say as soon as we got report, "Ok guys, only 11 and a half hours until we get to go home!" and so on throughout the day. Always made us giggle and stay positive.

What you're experiencing is so normal and it's hard to understand now, but there will come a time when you won't feel like this! Being a new nurse is so stressful.

Thanks all for your awesome responses.

ONE more day before the weekend haul is O V E R.