Nurse

Today I took a day off of retirement and went back to work. I sometimes sub for the nurse that took my position in the doctor’s office where I worked for 20 years.

I was up early, dressed and on the road at a time when I am usually enjoying my second cup of coffee and reading the morning paper. Walking in the door I was greeted by smiles and hugs from my office mates. We have shared a lot of life over the years and it was good to see everyone again. I looked at pictures of grandchildren and heard about the latest cruise. The patients were all happy to see me again, (except for the four year old boy that needed three shots.) I have cared for these people for many years and they feel like my family. I heard more stories and saw more pictures. All that was fun. Then there were the charts, mountains and mountains of charts that needed to be dealt with somehow. I called patients about lab work, sent reports to other doctors, and called in prescriptions. Then there was the filing, the endless filing. And the cleaning. And the restocking. And the ordering. Too much work and not enough time.

There was a big traffic mess on the beltway, so the ride home took nearly an hour. I was home long enough to change clothes, grab a sandwich and head out the door for a meeting at church.

I remember why I retired. It was a great job, but it was just so time consuming. I’ll repeat it all tomorrow, but then it’s back to retirement for me.