I picked up a shift today (on my weekend off in order to scrunch in all my hours before Ash, Caitlyn, and I leave for San Diego). The day started off wonderfully, I felt rested after with the extra hour of sleep… and then I found myself at work… with a run of very demanding patients. I received report and to my surprise I had 2 out of 5 patients that are very frequent fliers with us 2 total care patients, and 1 patient that is to be discharged to a skilled nursing facility that is not even close to being arranged yet, 2 of the patients were on contact isolation and 2 of the patients were on droplet isolation! For those of you who might not understand this… I know from this information… my day will be VERY busy!
Now of course I can’t give a whole lot of info because of the privacy laws… but after answering one of my patients call lights for the 100th time at noon today… he asked if any of his dilaudid, phenergan, Benadryl, or oxycontin were due because he was currently… in pain with nausea and itching… and in more pain all at the same time. Now… maybe the Erin RN from February of 2004 would have said with a smile, “oh yes sir, I’ll be right back after I check to see if any of those medications are due, and if they are, I will bring them right in!” (even though it would’ve been the 100th or so time I’ve been in your room today). But, instead, the 14 weeks pregnant Erin said… “You’re STILL not due for any of those medications and I haven’t peed AT ALL today and I have to go REALLY bad… so I am going to use the restroom NOW.” I then excused myself out of the room and used the restroom. I then found myself drawn to the cafeteria to get a side of macaroni which always looks and smells so good but makes my stomach hurt for hours after I eat it… I ate it…then my stomach hurt! Surprise… surprise!
Then later in the day the house supervisor found another one of my patients outside by the main entrance. The patient stated that she was “looking for a new boyfriend… one that would buy her a bigger ring” When I asked her to return to her room, she starts threatening me saying that she is going to call her lawyer because she hasn’t seen a doctor yet today. She continued to threaten me while the nurse in charge was on the phone with her doctor and after I had politely asked her to return to her room she continued the threatening and the yelling and I finally said, “ms. ‘So and so’, right now I am pregnant and I don’t have the patience to continue to tell you the same thing over and over again. We will let you know when we have new orders, please go back to your room.” Then she did and went to sleep for a while. Thank goodness!
I swear I don't usually express myself so matter of factly to my patient's, in fact... I'd say that i am usually pretty professional in my interactions with them... but today was DIFFERENT!
My day basically stunk, it was one thing after the other, I know it just sounds like I had 2 demanding patients but on top of that, I assessed all my patients, passed all my meds, fed two patients that could barely swallow, crushed meds, turned patients, helped other very new nurses, donned isolation gowns, masks, and gloves a gazillion times, joked with a few doctors, passed more meds, tried harder to get the patients to swallow the crushed meds, discharged a patient to a skilled nursing facility, noted STAT orders, shoved food in my face during a short break, peed ONCE…and now I am very tired, even with my extra hour of sleep… work drained the living daylights outta me!
I did get to come home and enjoy a wonderful Sunday Dinner with Ash and Caitlyn (even though I burnt the garlic bread... then cried) and then relaxed in a bath with Caitlyn.
Without them... I for sure would've gone crazy today!
I will now go to bed!
9 comments:
All I can say is, I completely understand your day and you can always call and vent to me. Just reading your post made me exhausted! We work too hard for too little money, huh???
Love ya!
Urgh! I feel for ya! Don't miss those Med/Surg days one bit. I think we as nurses should tell patients "how it is" a little more often and stop kissing their butts when they are threatening and rude. Most of them are not really even THAT sick! I could go on and on, but instead I will say, I'm sorry you had a rough day and I'm sure that you did something for someone today who was totally deserving! See ya soon!
The plus is that you made it through to the other side! Thank goodness for family to keep us sane. Not to mention that the hormone-fueled Erin is not a bad thing and sometimes it's ok to express yourself and your boundaries clearly. We love you just the same! ~Sara
oh, and BTW, I love the new profile pic of Caitlyn. Great fall colors! Did you take that pic yourself?
Oh dear, that sounds awful! I hope you got another good night's sleep after such a long day! Just keep reminding yourself that a get-away is just around the corner! :)
And I LOVE the new pic of Caitlyn!! What an adorable little sweater she has on, too! :)
I think someone might hate you for giving you an assignment like that! And, I think it's good that you told the patients whats up. Hope you're next day at work is much nicer. And as others have said I also love the new picture of Caitlyn it is precious. Have a good day.
Thanks everyone... Yeah I took that pic of Caitlyn in front of my parents house. I love it too!
Crappy day! And I would always say to speak your mind... its not like the patient (on dilaudid, benedryl, and whatever else) is actually going to remember anyway! Crazy drugged out bastards (I can say that because I've been one)! Thanks for being such a great nurse- those patients are lucky to have you- hormonal and all!
Sorry to hear that you had such a horrible day. Next time, call Jimmy and tell him to get on the orders already!!! Those drs and pa's have no idea how lucky they are to get to leave the unit! As nurses the only way to escape sometimes is to pee or go to lunch! You're pregnant, you need to pee and eat more often....hope your shifts are going more smoothly. Maybe we can do lunch in the cafeteria when I start working in January :)
Post a Comment