Starting Off the Week at 0240
That's right, I rolled out of bed at 0240 this morning, Monday, because it was that time. In other words, my body is still confused about what time to sleep and work, and tonight I start five-in-a-row 12 hour shifts again. The good part about all these days I'm working is the paycheck, which is much better than the firefighter paycheck from past days. I officially retired after 15 years April '06 and don't miss it any.

I enjoy working as a Registered Nurse®, even though I am a guy and I have a dream that males will dominate the nursing field in the next 10 years. The guys I work with now have backgrounds as a waiter, Marine, fireman (me), home remodeler, and paramedic just to name a few. History tells me that the first nurses were men, and the whole Florence Nightingale thing gets under my skin.

But I do enjoy the female perspective in nursing and they add balance to our ER. There must be a definitive and conscious change in the recruiting process nationwide to recruit guys, though. The language in the textbooks and elsewhere is distinctly female. My mission is to recruit guys to this profession, because I believe that we fit in, despite the tradition of woman as nurse.