To tell you that nightshifts, in any industry, are decent would not be totally wrong. Yes, long periods of exclusively nightshifts have a recorded and proven effect on the mind and body. However, there is work to be done at night, and somebody has to do it.
The picture above is from 2020 after my second consecutive night shift as a frontline COVID doctor in the United Arab Emirates. Swollen eyes, dry skin, a fatigued mind, all part of the job.
During the time, resources were thinned out, and there were a lot of people to take care of. We did some crazy shifts at the time. I mostly worked day shifts, but there were occasional night shifts, and a handful of times we had to pull 24+ hour shifts - which was limited to the peak of the second wave.
But what are my personal takebacks after working nights as a doctor and a night auditor for a hotel?
I was first stationed at an isolation location where I had to assess, admit, and treat newly infected patients. This was mainly when I worked both days and nights and sometimes 24+ hours. I was later promoted to head of reassessment for the entire city wherein only my signature would let a recently treated patient out of isolation and ready for work. That is when I worked exclusively 9-5 out of my own office.
During nights, I worked with a team of two nurses. If and when I worked longer hours, I would be accompanied by another doctor, and we took turns sleeping for an hour at a time.
It was extremely draining. Switching from day to night constantly took its toll on my body. I can't imagine how much worse it was for the older doctors.
Since catering would only deliver during the day, the night shift would usually be left with cold food that I had to either heat up myself or shove down my throat cold.
Just like night shifts at any hospital, clinic, or hospice, the work load usually came from paperwork and emergency cases. Even if a night was slow, I always had to be 100% alert as at any given moment a patient could need urgent help or a call from the ministry of health could come up saying there's a new patient coming in that needs to be assessed. This also meant I had to be ready to gown a full PPE. During nights at down times, I usually visited and provided consultation and second opinions to friends and family.
Since COVID I worked at the 2nd regional hospital in Kharkiv, Ukraine. But when the invasion came through, I eventually moved to the Netherlands. Unfortunately, I haven't yet started working here as a doctor. But as most recently, I worked as the night audit in a hotel (and later dishwashing).
In this job position, I worked solely at night. Very, very different from what I was doing before.
The workload mostly came from crunching numbers, fidgeting with quarterly and yearly reports, and doing the daily audits. There were also security rounds we had to do. And the rest of it was...calm.
I think the worst part was when I had to work alone. Over 300 people at the hotel and I'm the only staff during nights. That means any service or emergency is on me.
Albeit calm and short, I felt miserable. 8 hours of this, for almost the entire week. It was so torturous. During frontline work, I still always had the energy and motivation, but as a night audit it would become unbearable although the difference in workload was light years different.
Don't get me wrong, it is a wonderful job and I am every grateful to have a job during a very bad time. But boy, did I find it extremely unpleasant. My entire schedule was messed up, my energy levels were shredded, and any inspiration in my spirit was burnt to a crisp.
In a nutshell, if I were to analyze why I felt so differently between the two jobs, it only comes down to one thing: passion.
Don't they say if you do what you love it won't feel like work?
I believe that to be true in my case. The year during COVID was painful in many levels. The work pressure and responsibilities were through the roof! I was literally the only person between someone's life and death, someones ability to leave their four walls and/or work. There were so many times I had to make splitsecond decisions that could alters someone's life forever...
And yet everyday I felt amazing. Everyday I felt awesome. I went in every time with so much enthusiasm and motivation. Be it night or long hours, I loved it. And yet, when I did a different job with much lesser pressure I felt like my brain would explode from just feeling miserable.
Interesting.
Do you have such experiences between two different jobs that lead you to an epiphany?
