All of you Americans getting up before 7 (aka Unholy Early) is it usually after dawn where you live? Not just in summer, but a reasonable part of the wintermonths too? Or do you have to get up at “o’dark thirty” most part of the year?
6:00 Clock radio comes on. Hit Snooze 3 times.
**6:30 ** Get out of bed. If back door to the porch is closed, I open it so the dogs can go out. Flip on computer. Put on sweats/shorts (depending on season) and feed horses. Check Dope.
6:50 Brush teeth, pick out clothes (pile of khakis, pile of T shirts and polos or sweaters, depending on season). Check Dope. Dress. Check Dope. Look in mirror to make sure I don’t have bedhead.
**7:10 ** Feed dogs breakfast (1/2 C kibble X 6), check indoor and outdoor water.
**7:15 ** Leave for work
**8:00 ** Arrive at work. Fix breakfast (usually a bagel), check Dope. Do some work. Check the Dope some more.
12:30 Lunch
**1:30 ** Check the Dope. Do some work.
5:00 Leave the office.
**5:45 ** Home. Change shoes and feed the horses.
**6:00 ** Feed the dogs. Check the Dope. Feed myself. Check the Dope. Watch TV or read. Check the Dope. Shower.
**9:00 ** Take melatonin and 1/2 an Ambien. Continue with exciting evening activities of checking the Dope and reading/watching TV.
10:00 Melatonin starts to kick in. All dogs outside. Biscuits for all. Brush teeth. Bed.
StG
This is my perfect day:
05:00 Suddenly wake up and bounce out of bed. Throw on scrubs. Make coffee. Check news. Go to bathroom. Brush teeth. Braid hair.
06:00 Wake up kid (but she’s probably up already). Drive to work.
06:45 Clock in.
07:00 Get report. Grab coffee, 1 scrambled egg, 2 bacons and a whole wheat toast. Plan day, Check charts.
08:00 Start making rounds- get vital signs, assess patients and pass meds.
09:00 Chart. See if anyone needs help.
10:00 Make rounds. Monitor patients. Pass meds. Make beds.
11:00 Chart. Lunch (30 minutes)
12:00 Make rounds, vital signs, pass meds, make any leftover beds. Chart. See if anyone needs help.
14:00 Make rounds. Pass any meds (probably none scheduled). Goof off until 3 or 3:30, chat up coworkers, or do a good deed such as stocking med carts or helping coworkers who are running late. Chart.
16:00 Make rounds. Vital signs. Monitor patients. Pass meds.
17:00 Coffee and/or short dinner break (15 minutes).
18:00 Make rounds. Pass meds. Chart. See if anyone needs help.
19:00 Report off.
19:15 Clock out. Drive home.
20:00- 20:15 Arrive home. Catch up with family, dogs.
21:00 Shower.
21:15 Go to bed.
Of course, at any time during the day, this schedule can be totally blown out of the water by a medical emergency. All of my patients are pregnant and our least favorite call is the “something’s hanging out” call. It’s usually a foot or a cord. Then it’s a mad run to the OR. Fortunately that does not happen much. A more common problem is a patient kicking up with contractions or having a blood pressure management, blood sugar or pain problems. Sometimes the baby has decelerations in its heart rate and extended or continuous monitoring is required. And one is always available to help another nurse with her patient load.
Typical day in the life of a (not so typical?) American college student
09:30 - grumble, drag myself out of bed to turn off my alarm. Brush teeth, get dressed, poke around on the Internet and maybe have breakfast if I feel like it
~ 10:30-15:00 (depending on day) - class, with maybe a break for lunch and/or reading papers in the library. If it’s a nice day and I don’t have many classes, I might go take a walk in the neighborhood.
~ 15:00-18:00 - head back to my apartment, alternately do more class readings/assignments and poke the internet some more.
18:00 - dinner with roommates
19:30 - go out to do something on campus. Student club meeting, archery practice? Concert? Movie?
21:30 - back home. Shower, get into pajamas and sit in the living room with my laptop, where I half-heartedly finish up my readings/assignments and welcome distractions from my roommates, who are probably looking at something funny on the internet or reading an interesting/amusing/ridiculous journal article.
23:00 - have a snack or occasionally a glass of wine and play board games with my roommates, or alternatively, Skype my boyfriend on the east coast
02:00 - sleeeeeep.
In winter, it’s dark. On the eastern edge of a time zone here in the Midwest, it will get light in the winter around 7-7:30. On the western edge of a time zone, later than that.
At 5:15, it’s o’dark thirty all year 'round.
09:00 Alarm goes off. … SNOOZE x3…
09:30 Get up, wash and dress
09:50 Leave for work on the bike
10:00 Get into work. Check email, calls etc.
10:15 Go to canteen and get coffee and breakfast if in the mood. Then go do actual work
12:30 Cycle home for lunch. Read the dope, watch some tv.
14:00 Back in work
18:30 Leave work and go home.
Evening routine is basically making dinner with my girlfriend and watching tv/web. If my girlfriend is staying the night we usually go to bed around 11:00 and listen to podcasts while chatting or cuddling etc. If girlfriend isn’t there I’ll probably stay up till around 02:00 playing games on the 360 or watching movies.