Thursday, November 18, 2010

Day shift???

I've been working a loootttttt of nights recently (i think in the last 5 weeks I've had 4 day shifts) and the minimal day shifts I've worked have been weekends or I've been precepting a new grad (aka the shifts have been cake). Today was the first day I was an actual nurse during a weekday day shift in I dont even know how long. I figured the day would be busy, but I was not expecting a day that was borderline insane. I am going to steal D's idea of letter-writing to elaborate on my day:

Dear Intern who decided it was necessary to call me and interrupt my 3pm lunch break to fax an order to the pharmacy,
Are you kidding me?? Faxing orders is the Secretary's job. It's what we pay her to do. Do NOT interrupt my first and only attempt of the day to sit down just so I can do her job. Did I mention I've been here since 6:45am and it's now 3pm and I am just NOW on my lunch break??

Dear Charge Nurse,
I already have 4 patients, I've been running around like crazy all day long, and I was the last one to take a lunch break (if you can call 7 minutes during which I inhaled food, a "break"). Did you really think I was the best choice to take on a 5th patient?? Especially when the patient is a POD2 small bowel transplant with everything under the sun going on with her. I mean, I am all about being a team player, but REALLY??

Dear Nurse in the Endoscopy unit,
I specifically told you my patient had blood products running at that you needed to be with her during transport. Not only did you not transport my patient, but you did not administer the blood products that she needed. You can expect an incident report from me.

Dear Ms. T,
You are my star patient and the only thing that got me through the day. PS - thanks for the baked treats!

Dear ICU nurses,
You are the bane of our existence. Just because you work in the ICU, you think you can ignore protocol. News Flash: Protocol is there for the safety of the patients. When you disregard it, you not only make our lives difficult, but you put the patient in danger. Next time you have a patient on a continuous PCA, I suggest you copy the flowsheet correctly. Next time you have a Heparin drip, I suggest you have the orders written down somewhere so that when I receive your patient I know what rate she should run at. Afterall, we wouldnt want her BLEEDING OUT b/c you couldnt give an appropriate hand-off of care. Seriously, I cant imagine what kind of a clusterfuck you people work in.

Dear bladder,
I am sorry I did not have time to empty you during my 14-hour work day. Please dont get infected.

No comments:

Post a Comment