Working on the Monday after I’ve worked a weekend is always the worst. The only good thing about working weekends is that they are usually a lot more laid back. The bosses aren’t there, patient testing is cut down to a minimum, and there aren’t a million doctors, residents, and other random people swarming the unit. Plus, the people I work with over the weekend are my favorite coworkers.

But Monday…ugh. It’s my fourth day in a row to work, and we have admissions all over the place. I’m still training a new nurse, which takes a lot of patience. Not to mention we’ve had some really tough patients lately. That sentence doesn’t even begin to describe what I mean. There are times when I think about what a depressing place my unit can be. At the end of the day I am beyond exhausted. It’s a constant struggle for me to continue pouring myself into these needy patients day by day. It drains me, yet it is so gratifying.

But the other day I was in the middle of helping a patient when out of nowhere she looked at me, smiled, and said, “You sure do love your job, don’t you?” I can’t think of a better compliment. Because I really do – I love my job. And I’m so glad it shows.