Laughter

Yesterday we saw one the patients the entire ward had grown very fond of die. Thankfully it was very quick and painless. The mood of every member of staff on duty, from the sisters to the domestics dropped. Later than shift we had a quiet moment, someone (one of the class clowns) cracked a barely amusing, entirely inoffensive joke. The resulting laughter from everyone lasted several minutes and washed away the low moods. It was just the catalyst we needed to release it all.

Unfortunately in this job you dont really have time to stop and think about the bad things. A patient you cared about dies, you have to keep going because if you dont other patients will. The job doesnt stop to let you heal. In some ways I am grateful for that because if I stopped to think about every patient on any one ward who died I would probably end up killing myself.

The Job doesnt stop, so we cant either.