A nurse’s day is spent alongside other people’s pain. When a 12-hour shift ends, the body has left but the heart is often still in the ward.
For a nurse returning home, the shower is the ritual of creating a boundary. Washing away the hospital smell, the tension, the things that happened today.
One nurse says: until I finish my shower, I’m a nurse. After my shower, I’m just me.
People who do caring work need time to care for themselves most. The shower is that beginning. This shower right now is time only for you.