Sophie, working shifts as a nurse, about sport and clear priorities…

Our interview with Sophie takes place mid-afternoon: her hair is still wet as she has just taken a shower after a run and a meal is simmering in the kitchen. Sophie will be leaving to work tonight in the suburbs of Grenoble at a time when most of us are heading home.

Sophie is a nurse who specializes in caring for people who have suffered great trauma and tetraplegics. Like the majority of her colleagues, she works shifts during the week and at the weekend, with little scheduling visibility for the weeks ahead.

Let’sCo: What’s it like working with people who have suffered major accidents, like tetraplegics?

They teach us about life! They are remarkably independent, in fact most of them work. They have incredible energy! We are part of their daily lives, day and night. We help them get up and go to bed, and we also nurse them because there are often physical complications. We make a genuine team after a certain time: it is both very personal, but remains very professional because we are there to allow them to lead their own lives. I like this friendly, yet professional relationship. It suits me just fine!

Let’sCo: How do you organise yourself around your shifts?

I find that this is the hardest part of the profession. You have to be on top of things because you don’t get a lot of sleep and it is quite a physical job: turning a patient over, putting a patient into a wheelchair… You have to be in good shape. I regularly run because it suits my ever-changing schedule. Keeping on your toes is essential (laughs!).

You also have to be super organized within your family life! Luckily there is genuine solidarity among colleagues. We help each other out when we can, but it’s a real obstacle course all the same!

Let’sCo: What is your recipe for family life?

My husband travels during the week, so I have a network of friendly neighbors and I rely 100% on my husband at the weekend!!!

My children (Chloé aged 10 and Jules aged 14) are used to taking part in the household chores: the dishwasher, tidying their rooms, being independent about timekeeping… They have a lot of activities that take place a long way from home, which means that I have to organise transport for them but I make it a priority over everything else. Music, gym… they love it and I find that it gives them balance. I chose to work at the weekends in order to be able to take them around as much as possible during the week: that is our number one family priority!

Let’sCo: Do you have some advice for young nurses and anyone who works shifts?

Have a good network of colleagues who can fill in for you when catastrophe strikes, and be clear about personal priorities: we have free time when others don’t and vice versa. So, we do fewer things together. You have to know how to choose what is important to do together!