A good three weeks ago, when my work was over, I left the intensive care unit grinning and waving – by then at the latest the last member of the team noticed that I was going on vacation. At home I first cleared out my work bag and sorted it before I stowed it in the storage room. She stayed there until the first day of work came. This procedure is a little ritual for me – and just like with my bag, I do it with thoughts of work: I put it aside and only take it out again after my vacation.
Switching off on vacation is not that easy. There is, for example, our WhatsApp workgroup, which keeps popping up on the cell phone. The working life of the colleagues can be read live. Or when I meet friends who are also colleagues. Of course we’re also talking about the clinic. Even when I meet other friends, the jump to work is never far: “And what is going on with you in intensive care?” – a question I get asked a lot. Even more often since Corona.
Of course, it is extremely important for us nurses that we actually live our job, empathize with patients and have a great deal of empathy. Because in addition to technical knowledge, that is also essential for good care. That’s why on my first day of work back in the intensive care unit, I also ask my colleagues what happened to the patients I cared for before my vacation. But if I am continuously involved in the course of the illness and everything that goes with it in the intensive care unit, then that is not healthy.
From time to time it takes a mental cut, distance – spatial and mental – because otherwise the often tragic and painful fate of our patients would at some point so stress me that I would no longer be able to do my job well – and in the worst case this is endangered both my health and that of my patients. So: mute WhatsApp group, agree a time limit for work topics with friends from the clinic, reply to other friends “I’m not exactly sure what’s going on in intensive care because I’m on vacation – let’s talk about something else, please “. The ability to isolate myself as much as possible from all other thoughts was not just there, when I started out in intensive care I thought about work almost all the time while on vacation. But I’ve learned it and now I’m pretty rigorous. My work bag definitely stays closed on vacation – including the one in my head.
Julia Rettenberger is an intensive care nurse. In this column, the 27-year-old tells every week about her work at the district clinic in Ebersberg. The collected texts can be found under sueddeutsche.de/thema/Auf_Station.