From May 5, 2009: A New Personal Record!

From start of shift to tears in less than an hour!

I'm getting *way* more efficient at this. lol.

The day started off rather well. Went out for lunch and margaritas to celebrate B getting the fuck off our unit-of-doom and going back to school. We'll miss her.

I get to work, get a rather half-assed report from a new traveler who I don't really know yet. One of the things I learn is that one of my pts is confused, came from ICU, and just pulled her IV when she got to the floor at 14:30. They managed to clean up most of the blood, though.

This is another situation where I can't accurately express all the crazy that was going on.

I go to the patient's room to assess, and she asks for a Diet Coke. We don't normally have soda on the unit, but I told her we could ask the kitchen to send some up with her dinner. She seems ok with this. I move along, but not long after hear her hollering down the hall. I go into the room and she is freaking out. Frantically trying to get her gown off, pulling her telemetry wires, etc. I tried to reorient her and calm her down, and keep her clothed. I told her we could take off the wires and everything but we should try not to give the whole unit a free show. She starts talking about her babies, and so I try to get in contact with her son, who isn't answering the phone.

I call the Dr and let her know what's going on, and she comes miraculously fast. She gets into the patient's room right as she's trying to pull her foley out. We manage to make her hold off for 30 seconds so I can grab a syringe to deflate the bubble. The last thing we need is her bleeding from the urethra...

Foley is out, Tele is off, IV is out, SCDs are off, and gown is barely covering her up. We get a sitter into the room while we try to get in contact with the family members. At some point while I'm at the desk the lady starts walking out of her room and BMing on the floor.

Then I get a rather miffed-sounding woman on the phone. Her father (another patient of mine) is back from ultrasound and has been on the gurney for a rather long time, and is getting uncomfortable (big guy....) and wants to get back in bed.

What the fuck is wrong with the runners? This has happened quite a few times. One of my patients is back on the unit and *NO ONE TELLS ME*. I can't read your minds, people.

So I was all kindsa frazzled from crazylady, and I made the mistake of looking at my watch. It was 1600 and by this time I usually have all my meds figured out for the shift, my to-do list is updated, I've done my PCHs, and am starting to assess. None of that's been done and I feel like I'm drowning.

That's when the tears start.

I feel like a dumbass because I know it's nothing I did, and crazy just happens sometimes. But I can't seem to calm myself down. So I high-tail it to the bathroom where I splash my face with cold water and try to look professional, with middling results.

So I get lift team to help me move big guy onto his bed. He barely speaks English, and I can tell he's going to be a needy sort. Sigh.

I scramble around trying to assess my patients and make sure they're comfortable, and by this time it's medpass time.

After I get done passing meds, I am standing at my "office" trying to figure out what to do with myself next. Big guy needs a blood draw, hip fracture needs to be turned, and little old asian guy needs 2 nasal swabs for flu/MRSA.

Then manager J comes and does something that completely surprises me.

He asks me what needs to be done (luckily I've just made a to-do list) and then says "Go on break. Take 45 minutes to relax, and get some of your charting done."

It was the shortest 45 minute break ever, but I got to decompress and catch up on my paperwork, and when I got back, *everything* on my list was done.

I managed to get all my stuff done on time, and transferred my hip fracture to the ortho floor. Well, I was told she would be transferring, and J decided to move her along without me finishing all my stuff (it was 2230 at this point) and brought her by the room I was in so she could say "bye" and I could wish her luck. I hope she does well. She's a sweetie.

And crazylady calmed down rather well once her family was there, and would likely be sent home in the AM if she remained stable. Happy to hear that...

The only crazy people I should have to deal with in the hospital are my coworkers :)