Rut

Lately our hospital has been, to put it bluntly, dead. Things usually slow down come wintertime, but with the whole economy thing going on, it's been tough some days to keep your eyes open.

Today, approximately 1/2 hour before we were to close, we got a call saying a client was coming in with their pet that was just malled by a pit bull. These things happen now and again.
You never like to see emergencies, per se, but I have to admit, I miss being in a hospital that is constantly in motion. I miss multi-tasking. I never thought I'd say it, but I miss being so busy that sometimes I didn't have time for lunch. From the moment I'd walk in the door until the moment I walked out the door, I was in the zone. It's been awhile since I've had to get in the zone. You'd think not having been dealing with emergencies, etc. my mind would get rusty and forget what to do when they happened. I was delighted to see that this wasn't the case. When I received the notice we had a client coming in, my mind went into autopilot....my zone. Back to the old days where I wasn't constantly looking at the clock to see when I was getting off. Or not knowing what was coming in the door next, because I had no time to even look at the schedule. In my mind I knew that the Pomeranian lying on the table needed everything I could give him, so I gave it willingly. Whether it be administering morphine, starting an IV drip, providing a kind voice and soft touch, or even a few extra moments on my evening I was supposed to have off.

So often in our lives we get in a rut. I've recently been doubting why I chose to go into my present profession. I couldn't help but be bummed with the realization that I may already be burned out. How crazy. But it's times like tonight where I realize, no, I'm not burned out. I'm just warming up. I may not always love certain things about my job, but the bottom line is I love what I do and who I do it for....the animals.