Nurses spend more time with patients than most other types of providers and have unique insight into patient care and the the healthcare system.
That Ordinary Nightmare Shift
Sandy Klever, RN, currently works in hospice care in Des Moines, Iowa. At the time of the events described here, she was working on a medical/surgical floor at a Veterans Administration hospital.
julie kertesz/ via flickr creative common
“Can you work tomorrow evening?” sweet-talks my nurse manager. Even though I will miss handing out treats on Halloween, I say yes. “But what about all my candy?” I ask. “Just bring it with you!”
Halloween night should be an easy shift. Do not say the ‘Q’ word, I tell myself. As I’m drinking coffee in the staff room, I’m assigned to four familiar patients, one of whom is a discharge.
Then the door opens and a colleague hands me a notecard about a direct admit coming from the ER, tells me that he’s having a COPD exacerbation and is homeless.
Well, I can manage a COPDer. At least he’s not a challenging laryngectomy patient transferring from the ICU.
“Oh, and by the way,” my colleague adds, “he’s confused and bipolar.”
Off to the floor! Because his room is still being cleaned, I have plenty of time. Within minutes, I have performed a complete assessment on my first patient. Moving on to my second patient, I see a commotion in the hallway and realize my new admit is coming on a cart already. As we […]
