Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Yesterday sucked.  I was charge and it was one critical patient after another with no ICU beds. So people were there for hours.   Families unhappy.  Staff unhappy. Not fun.

So today was my 5th shift this week. Bleah. Not looking forward to today.  And then....and then.....a miracle occurred.   The God of emergency rooms decided to shine down on us.  The day was reasonable, so reasonable that it was almost eerie. 

Here's the thing:: When you work in ER, although you delight in, and celebrate, slow times, it also makes you very nervous.  Everybody is on edge waiting for the other shoe to drop.  No one talks about it.  The lack of patients.  We don't want to jinx it.  ER staff are very, very superstitious. 

So as the day goes on and it remains really, really nice, even WE, people of the ER, relax..  We shoot the breeze, fool around, generally just enjoy a breather.  Especially after the last month, with the rampant flu, that  has been horrible. We relax. Something we don't do often.

With relaxation comes reluctance to work.  So when patients come in there is a collective groan.  No, go away. We don't want any. Its almost harder to work when the day is slow than when it is crazy.

So it is so slow that I get to leave 2 hours early, unthinkable in the last couple of months.  Yay!!! There is no better feeling than being able to leave early. As I leave, I feel a little scared, scared for the night shift.  No doubt they will pay the price for our good times.  After all, everybody knows, eventually the ER universe always balances itself one way or the other.  If not tonight, then tomorrow. Fortunately for me, I'm off tomorrow!