hard days, long nights

With short days and long nights upon us, my energy level feels depleted and I'm ready for bed by 8:00 pm. Work has been difficult the last few weeks with the covid surge and other situations, and sometimes my mood matches the dark evenings.

After 5 months of construction, we moved in to our new IV room the end of last month. It's twice the size of our old one, with glass walls, automatic sliding doors, stainless steel carts, and bright lighting. Instead of being hidden away in a small room, we are visible to everyone in the pharmacy due to all the glass. There's also several cameras in use, so it feels like our every move is being watched. Our motto used to be "what happens in the clean room stays in the clean room" but that's hardly possible anymore! 

Stress levels were super high the week we moved in and started using the new facilities. Pharmacy leaders and management were involved in setting up and their scrutiny and expectations of how things should be done added extra pressure to a chaotic time. We had some very sick covid patients and the amount of paralytic, sedative, and narcotic IV's needed around the clock was putting a strain on those working in the IV room. Since we were so busy trying to take care of patients, nobody was able to properly organize and stock supplies. I worked in the clean room one of those first days and the setup was so inefficient it hindered production. Thankfully some of those issues have been worked through, but I'm not enjoying the days I work in the clean room as much as I used to. It's a modern, state-of-the-art facility, but I feel under surveillance at all times. 

This picture is a typical IV setup for an ICU covid patient. Each of those monitors is connected to a drip that comes from pharmacy. Some of those drips are changed every 2-3 hours. Multiply that by several patients times 24 hours and you might get an idea why the pharmacy is so busy!

It sounds like hospitals will be receiving the covid vaccine in the near future. For many people, life has been put on hold all year. Most of my coworkers haven't been getting together with family, going on vacation, or attending large gatherings. (I continue to do all those things, but I wouldn't want them to know that!) For them, a vaccine is light at the end of the tunnel. 

With the way things have been going, this will probably a tough weekend at work, so I need to shut my eyes for the night!