Day of an ICU Nurse

I must state that no day of work for an ICU nurse is the same, they are like snowflakes, no two are identical. My usual pre-work morning routine consists of sleeping until the very last moment of time that will allow me to reach my destination (8th floor of the Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience) 20 minutes early (on a good day). Of course, I'm not enthused about arriving to work early, but it is common courtesy to relieve the night shift nurse a bit early, or give him/her enough time to give report and then leave by 7 (the start of day shift or the end of night shift). Arriving to the destination is only a small fraction of the day. The rest of the day is unpredictable. There is no monotony; there is no repetition of days; and there are certainly no recurring expectations. There is no possible way to describe the rest. So I will leave it up to your imagination. I will; however, leave you with the following words: ventilators, alarms, phones, people, disappointment, orders, ordering, bowel movements, turns, running, trays, laughs, smiles, cries, frustrations, profanity, sighs, ventriculostomies, and brains.