Eleven to seven in the Dementia Unit

Well, another night in Paradise. I'm an 11 to 7 charge nurse in an end-stage Alzheimer's unit in Lowell, MA. I love the nurses I work with (with an exception or two, of course!) and my nurse's aides are quite simply the best. A nurse is only as good as her worst aide, so I am so appreciative of my "regulars" who take such great care of the 42 patients on our unit. It's a good thing, too, since I'm always up to my arse in paperwork. My supervisor always jokes that the day staff think we midnight nurses sit around eating bonbons, reading movie magazines, and painting our nails. Frankly, I could really use a pair of roller skates and maybe a unicycle. . .

My night is pretty much filled with paper, and concludes with a two hour med pass before I leave for the day. Yesterday I started the med pass 15 minutes early, thinking I would be able to finish up my nurses' notes and other nightly patient documentation and then get the heck out of there. Sure. A small crisis arose and set me back by an hour. You just can't win.

I fit right in with these demented souls. Any of them can bring up a subject right out of the blue and ask me a question about whatever and I just go with the flow. There's nothing like the feeling I get when a resident's face just lights up with a big smile when she sees me. They know I love them.