Exhausted, Guilty, Done: A Nurse's Sleepless Journey

I knew I was ready to consider a change when I woke up in a grocery store parking lot and didn’t know what time it was.

I would pull over after a 7:00 am – 7:00 pm nursing shift if I thought I might veer off the road or get a ticket for reckless driving. This particular morning, I had dozed off and as I raised my seat back, from the reclined position, looked around to make sure no creepy person was looking into my car, I grabbed my phone to check the time. It had only been 20 minutes, but it felt like half a day. Exhaustion can have that effect on you.

As I finished driving home with the faint sounds of IV pumps beeping in my head and wondered whether I told the oncoming nurse about my patient’s abnormal lab values, I stopped. I just stopped. I asked myself, who else on this freeway has slept 8 hours in the last 48, dozed off in a grocery store parking lot for 20 minutes, and is now rushing home to relieve the mediocre babysitter watching my three small children. I was alone. I gave this feeling three words. Exhaustion. Guilt. Done.

If you have a story about the moment you knew you were ready for a change, share it as a blog response or email us at info@pomwomen.com. Include the three words you give the feeling you had at that moment.