Upside Down.

Ah, the joys of being a social worker. There really are many. I love it. BUT...
As a social worker working at the U of R I have the requirement of being "on call" for the ED, one weekend a year, one weeknight every three months and one holiday every three years. Dispite the fact that I have no contact with the ED nor do I work in the ED nor am I familar with the ED. But I am social worker and we are, by nature and discipline, flexible and fabulous.
As a social worker working at Strong Ties, which is part of the U of R, I have the requirement of being on call for a week at time. Not that big of a deal because you never leave your house, it's all over the phone. On call starts at 5pm and goes until the next morning.
My first experience with ED on call was a weekend on call. So basically it is three nights of no sleep. I live about 25 minutes from the hospital and had to go in everynight. It sucked. It was interesting but not something I want to get used to. It is on my mind because I am on call for the ED again tonight! All these on calls have happened in the past month or so.
It's a weird experience to have a doc. or nurse call you in the middle of the night to have you come in to evaluate a situation that might need CPS involvement or something not nice. You don't get called for the warm-fuzzy stuff. So as I am driving to work in the middle of the night I wonder what I am going in for and on my way home wish I hadn't had to have gone in. It can be sad to see what happens, especially with children.
So here's to hoping to I don't get paged tonight. It's a bit wearing.