I learned some things today.
I was at a curricula event geared towards, you know, actual instructors.
But there I was, feeling so out of place. During self-introductions, I admitted it to the group of about 28. I said I wasn’t a teacher. Not yet.
But I was eager to learn.
And learn I did.
And, to my surprise, much of it can be translated to nursing, and the operating room.
But the most surprising thing I learned is that PTSD mimics ADHD.
This means that there are a LOT of nurses running around thinking they have undiagnosed ADHD. When, in fact, we have PTSD from being a healthcare worker during a pandemic.
Mic drop.
After all, we kept it together to get through nursing school, one of the most rigorous educational offerings out there.
And it is only after the pandemic that we feel out of control and can’t focus on anything. All of a sudden, nurses are doom scrolling, and neglecting chores. Because they can’t focus long enough to finish anything.
I have heard this from many, many nurses.
Y’all know that nurses love to diagnose ourselves and then drop it.
It is no wonder that a lot of the nurses that I work with or come in contact with suddenly are wondering if they have ADHD.
Nope, just run of the mill Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This doesn’t mean the stress isn’t real.
I was the only nurse in the room, but not the only person affected. Teachers had it rough too, creating a new online curricula entirely out of thin air in what seemed like a minute, trying to shepherd their students through the new type of classes.
Makes you think that the pandemic isn’t done affecting us.
Not by a long shot.
According to the CDC covid data tracker, the US has a total death toll of 1 million, one hundred, twenty-seven thousand deaths as of May 6th. Yeah, the data is out of date. No surprise there. I miss the Johns Hopkins Covid dashboard.
My hospital was giving out online references for counseling, and stress management during the worst of the pandemic. Maybe, as a hospital, we all need counseling.
We need something.
This is why I continue with Cookie Thursday is a Thing. It’s a morale builder, for sure.
It’s not much, but it is something.
Dispatches from the Evening Shift 