6.09.2008

It begins...

Today was Day #1 of the new summer schedule. The new plan has me in outpatient Mondays from 815-?; Wednesdays 8-830 (only because this is literally the only time the family can come); and Fridays from 8-130. I spent a good portion of this time confused, as I couldn't remember who was coming when or where I was supposed to be. My first pt (an eval) canceled (for the 3rd time) so I ran across the street to evaluate some orthos. Then I had to run back to give a Peabody, had several peds to see, worked through lunch and didn't notice that my 1230 hadn't shown up until 1 o'clock. Also had an extended power outage in there that scared a child and destroyed one of my evals. Had a surprise videotaped session, and closed w/ a peds eval. Finally finished up the outpatients at 330 and had time to run back across the street and eval a lady on the observation unit before my brain was totally shot. Between the heat and lack of sleep, I developed a pounding headache and was quite ready for the day to end.

I've had a hard time sleeping on Sunday nights, likely due to the stress and anxiety of seeing the peds. Hopefully, the new schedule will get me out of work earlier so that I can stop working random 11.5 hour days. I spoke to 2 more parents today about starting OT for their kids, so the caseload is definitely growing. I can't tell if this will make things overall better or worse for the sleep situation. Part of the stress (ironically) is my impending vacation. I will be taking next week off to be a beach bum, thus leaving my colleagues shorthanded all week. When I return, another inpatient OT will be taking her week off, making week 2 of short staff and (almost assuredly) short tempers. To make matters extra fun, I have to work that Saturday and have an evening commitment every day that week. Vacation should not be this stressful! I need to learn to just turn it all off in my head, or I'm not going to be able to enjoy my vacation because of the stressors that are following it.

Here's hoping I can finally get some rest.

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