Saturday Night Fever

It was a gloriously slow Saturday night in the ER. In fact, it was my slowest night EVER. The timing could not have been more perfect, as this was right at the peak of Graham’s RSV illness, and I was exhausted and in no shape for a hectic shift.

The quiet meant the night nurses had plenty of down time to grumble and groan about their aches and ailments. "Oh my toe. I had an ingrown toenail that I dug out myself at home." And "Oh my back. I think I strained something moving a patient."

At about 4 am, all of us were sitting at the nurses station and the back pain nurse stood up and filled the silence with a painful moan, grabbing her low back. One of the younger nurses looked at all of us and quipped "I need some younger, healthier coworkers. ‘Oh, oh, oh’," she imitated their groaning. "You all are an old and decrepit bunch."

I don’t know what possessed me… Probably sheer delirium from lack of sleep, and the fact that there were only 2 patients in the whole ER, and neither of them were within sight of the nurse’s station. Suddenly I found my self saying "ALRIGHT!" and jumping up out of my chair, running around from behind the physician’s desk and assuming the Saturday Night Fever Pose in the middle of the ER.

Right there, with my scrubs and white coat and stetho-scope, I broke it down John-Travolta-style with some 70’s disco moves. There was no music playing. In fact, it was dead quiet as all the nurses and techs stared at me with surprised faces. "I’M not old and decrepit," I screamed as I jammed out to the music in my head.

They all started rapping "Go Doctor, Go Doctor" and giving me a beat. Finally I stopped with a sheepish laugh. I sat back down, a little red in the face. I’m definitely not used to showing that side of myself at work. I usually try to suppress it for the sake of professionalism, but it had just come exploding out of me.

One of the nurses had been outside on a smoke break. When she came back, she saw everyone laughing and noticed my red face. "What did I miss?"

Back pain nurse spoke up. "Doctor was giving us some Saturday night fever. She’s not old and decrepit… YET!"