occupational hazards

so it's after 1am est, and i am unable to sleep. as i was lying in bed, i began to think that my insomnia is a bit of an occupational hazard. it's the consequence of constantly flip-flopping from days to nights and from weekdays to weekends...it can really undo one's personal clock. i once heard it said that leonardo da vinci would only sleep for 3-4 hours at a time (no wonder he was so productive!), so maybe that worked to his advantage....but for me, the shift change doesn't work as well. but it did get me thinking...as a nurse, i have a lot of occupational hazards...it would seem that i have a quite dangerous job...besides insomnia, here consider the following bad things that could happen to me on the job:

1. insomnia
2. a needlestick - esp. from a patient that has HepC or HIV
3. getting goo'd by bodily fluids (pee, puke, poop, snot, blood, plasma, brain matter, etc.)
4. accidentally killing someone via a medication error
5. being attacked by a patient
6. varicose veins from walking 12 hours straight
7. dehydration from being so busy that i can't take a break
8. injury to arms, shoulders, back from lifting, pushing, pulling, etc.
9. dehydration --> fainting --> hitting head on hard surface --> subdural hematoma (a type of brain bleed...ok that one is a long shot but it could happen)
10. getting sick

the list would probably be longer if i was more awake and alert, but it did remind me that there are worse jobs out there than mine. on a recent trip to west Africa - a country i'll call MCO - we went to a job site where they tan leather. early on in the process they place the animal skins in a vat of pigeon poo (yes, pigeon poo) to separate the hair fibers from the animal skins. as we were touring this rather odoriferous job site, i noticed that there was a man standing in the pigeon poo. after questioning our barely-English-speaking guide in a combination of french and English, i discovered that this mans job entails standing in the pigeon poo all day swishing and agitating the poo under and over the animal skins. this man apparently stands in the poo for 8-10 hours a day subjecting himself to numerous health hazards in shorts and thin rubber boots so that we can all have nice leather handbags and footstools and wallets.

i've heard that there is a book called "50 jobs worse than yours" or something like that. i wonder what is in it. maybe nurse is on the list, maybe not. maybe #1 is a moroccan poo swisher. that being said, i am don't mind anymore that i have the opportunities to expose myself to the potential hazards of my workplace - insomnia, brain matter, psychotic patients, and the whole lot. i don't mind because maybe it will sharpen my skills enough to help the moroccan poo swisher when he gets sick.

so what do you think? is my job more dangerous than yours? if not, what "occupational hazards" plague you in your workplace? let me know....i need something to read when i'm not sleeping