HISMD: Operating Room RN at a Level 1 Trauma Center

100% in person at the hospital. 3 kids - 6, 4, & 2 yo. Partner (WFH as freelancer). New York, NY. 40.

This "How I Structure My Day" series started with an Instagram post I made about my own life, which prompted a woman to ask if it would be possible to see how women working a more traditional, full-time job did it. I asked women to share, and, man, have people responded. The goal is to show how women from different industries, with and without kids, with and without partners, with family living with/near them and not, wfh to 1+ hour commutes, etc. structure their day. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I do!

A quick word before we jump in:

If you’re in need of a time management reset, come get a free taste of the Bright Method, a time management system I came up with as an overwhelmed attorney that helped me ditch stress and find more clarity and ownership around where I spent my time. You can try it out in my free 5-day program, the Reset & Refresh. Click here. In the words of a woman who went through it:

“I appreciated how much substantive, real information was provided in this free course. The pace of delivery was spot-on: thorough and complete but without the usual dragging small talk that busy people don’t have time for.”

Hope to see you in there!

Okay, on to the good stuff!

The Snapshot

• Profession: Operating Room RN at a Level 1 Trauma Center

• Partner: Yes (WFH as a freelancer)

• Children: Yes, 3 kids - 6, 4, & 2

• New York, NY

• 100% in person at the hospital

• 40

Typical Morning:

• Our alarm goes off at 6:40am. All 5 of us get up at the same time.

• We help the kids to the bathroom and head downstairs.

• My husband makes me and my kids’ breakfast. I start preparing my lunch and dinner that I’ll take to work. I work 11am-11:30pm so I need multiple meals at the hospital.

• He packs the kids’ lunches & snacks. I get them dressed and brushed.

• 7:50am - I walk my kindergartner to school with our neighborhood friends. 4yo and 2yo drop off is at 9am so sometimes I will lift weights or run before, or my husband and I walk them together and grab a coffee.

• Two days a week my 2yo stays at home and my parents take over at home at 9am.

• 9:10 - I shower and get dressed. I’ll switch a load of laundry or quickly tidy the bathroom.

• I’m out the door at 9:45 to commute to the hospital.

• I get to work by 10:35/40 and eat again before my shift.

Morning "Make Life Easier" Hacks

• Since my husband is home in the evenings, he will prep the kids’ bento boxes in the fridge (to complete in the am) and set the coffee pot.

• He takes on this mental load which allows me to be more present with the kids in the short time I get to be with them on work days.

Transition into Work Mode

• Listening to music during my commute or texting with friends on the subway helps take away some of the anxiety I feel heading into a 12-hour shift with unknown patient cases.

What my work day looks like

• My shift as an OR nurse starts at 11am.

• I work lunch relief shift meaning I go into 3 or 4 different surgeries for a hour at a time and give another nurse or scrub tech an hour lunch break.

• After that I will be sent to start a late-day cases or any emergency cases that arrive.

• My job requires I work 3 or 4 days a week between Mon-Fri, and lately I’ve been trying to schedule my weekly work days to be all in a row so I have a stretch to fall into non-work routine at home.

Lunch/Snacks

• After my initial 3 or 4 lunch reliefs for other nurses, I will get my own hour-long break. I try to eat a large lunch because it’s always a toss-up when I will be able to eat later in the day.

• During this time, I also do things like schedule kids appts and text with my partner about logistics for evening/next day.

Breaks

• The nature of working in the operating room means sometimes you have downtime and sometimes you are nonstop a whole shift.

• If I get a break, I try to take advantage of it and FaceTime my kids

Leaving work

• 11:30pm - I try to “leave it all” at work when I take a 15-min car service home vs. late-night subway commute.

Transition out of work mode

• I will have a snack when I get home and chat with my husband for a few minutes.

After work/evening hours

• Work nights there isn’t much time - and I’ve gotten used to just going straight to bed to get up to do it the next day.

• Nights I’m not working I savor the bedtime routine with my kids, and then my husband and I love ordering food and enjoying TV. The day/night after working several days in a row, I’m mentally and physically recovering.

Evening Non-Negotiables

• Days/evenings that I work my husband will tidy the kitchen and run the dishwasher but all other “cleaning” chores are left for us to conquer other days.

Afternoon/evening “make life smoother” tips

• We keep expectations low on the days/nights I’m working. The bare minimum to keep everyone happy/healthy/fed.

Sharing the load with a partner

• We really work as a team. Since the bulk of my work is loaded into half the week we have the understanding that he does the heavy lifting those days. Days/nights I’m home I take over a lot of the nightly routine (giving baths etc.), and I will usually catch up on weekly chores on one of my days off.

Things you do for fun/during the week

• On my days off, my husband and I try to eat lunch together or take a walk for coffee.

• I love running outside.

• Since my kids have started school, I’ve made a lot of new grown-up friends and enjoy mixed get-togethers with our kids and theirs. At this season of life, my joy and happy place is here.

Outsourcing

• We could not function without the help of my parents. They jump in on sick-days, take my kids on special outings, bring them to lessons.

• We do not hesitate to order food to eat-in or groceries to our house if this means more free time together.

That’s a wrap for this one!

Thank you so much to this woman for generously sharing. These publish every Thursday!

A reminder of the ground rules to ensure women continue wanting to share about their days and feel safe doing so.

• Encouraging comments always welcome!

• If you have questions or even hang-ups about what someone shared, you are welcome to ask a question for the sharer in the same kind, genuinely curious way you would if you were looking at that woman in her eyes. She might respond through me.

• If comments are judge-y or mean-spirited, I reserve the right to delete comments. I can handle being criticized about my own work here (and even still, to a degree – I’m also a person), but I go into full mama bear mode when people come after my people – including women who are being vulnerable and sharing in the first place.

• Thanks to the vast majority of people who are so kind!

New here? Welcome!

I’m Kelly Nolan, an attorney-turned-time management strategist and mom of two. I teach the Bright Method, a realistic time management system designed for professional working women. In addition to this fun new series, I share bite-sized time management strategies on Instagram. Thanks for being here!

After experiencing overwhelm as a young patent litigator in Boston, I figured out a time management system to help me show up in the ways that I wanted to at work and at home – without requiring my brain to somehow magically remember it all. I now teach other professional working women how to manage their personal, family, and career roles with less stress and more calm clarity using realistic time management strategies. My system, the Bright Method, has been featured in Bloomberg Businessweek, and my work has been published in Forbes, Fast Company, Business Insider, and more. Learn more on my website, come learn bite-sized strategies with me on Instagram, or jump into my free 5-day program.

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