0600hrs - Wake up. Get to work 0645hrs. Fifteen minutes early. Hope to check some personal emails, get some fruit for breakfast.
0645hrs - First patient outside health center. Teenagers never get out of bed early. Must be quite sick. See student straight away. Delay breakfast.
0700hrs - First patient resting in bed. Two more students arrive. Again early. Look miserable.
1715 - Brief window to get breakfast. Spend five minutes in cafetaria. Wandering teaches waltz's by. Teacher complains that kids are waiting to be seen and I'm eating breakfast.
0720 - Ignore teacher. Am used to 5 minute breakfast and am seeing next wave of students.
0750 - First bell has gone. This is supposedly the signal to begin class, but instead 15-20 teenagers flood health center.
0900hrs - Finished with kids. Now have two denist appoinments and three doctor appointments. Colleague takes care of this while I rush to classroom upstairs where student has fainted.
1000hrs - Faint turns out to be vasovagal, nothing to worry about. Called to something more exciting. A chemical splash in students eye. Rush to go there, but no car available. The school has taken then second nurse car away. Has been ongoing problem since school expanded campus to include a building twenty minutes walk away up a mountain, but 3-5 minutes by car.
1020hrs - Finally get car and get to child. Taken to doctor. Fortunately student going to be ok.
1100hrs - Lunch clinic begins, colleague back in time to deal with this. Unfortunately ran out of beds in the health center at some stage and have ten kids scattered around campus in their own rooms. Next hour spent checking up on them.
1200hrs - Try to get lunch, but staff complaing that the health center at the new building is not staffed. Race to get there to see the critically ill students with their nasal congestion.
1330hrs - Finally finish clinic and join colleague at main campus to catch up/swat notes and find out what is going on.
1335hrs - Interupted by phone call. Abusive parents claiming we've neglected their child and left them suffering in their room deathly ill.
1340hrs - Track down deathly ill child. Is in bed with laptop, busy typing away. Claims to be sick, but I already know that a big assingment is due today. Student busy working on this. Student claims to be 'dizzy'. Sick of hearing this. Tell student that 'it's ok. I don't think you'll pass out lying down.'
1400hrs - Back in health center. Check emails. The abusive parent has sent an equally abusive email, even after I'd phoned them from students bedside to let them know their child is fine.
1530hrs - Supposed to finish work. But have four kids to take to doctor. Finish day at 1700hrs.
1700hrs - Home at last. Phone rings. Called to see sprainged ankle.
1730hrs - Phone rings again. Another angry parent.
1730 - 2000hrs - End up seeing multiple kids. Nothing urgent, but when I'm on scence, they make the most of it.
2010hrs - home at last.
0300hrs - Phone rings. Student, not sick, wrong number. Can't get back to sleep.
0600hrs - Get up for another day at work.
No one says please. No one says thank you. No one buys chocolates. Might go work in a hospital again.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Why I want to give up nursing, Part III
Why I want to give up nursing, Part II
"I'm not going anywhere near someone with swine flu" said a teacher at the back of the room.
"Me neither. I'm a teacher, not a nurse. That's your job" said another.
"Well, we're a boading school. If we get a lot of people with the flu, we're going to need help. Two nurses can't look after everyone."
"I never signed up for this" said the first voice. The voice belonged to Jason, one of the few 'old hands' at our school. "It's not in my contract" he added. The seventy odd teachers assembled there muttered their agreement.
"I'm not asking you all to do medical things. We need help getting them meals. Dropping off medicines. Helping arrange rooms to isolate new cases. We may ask you to check the odd temperature here or there, but we can't do it all."
"I'm not going anywhere near anyone" said Marie, the head of the english department. "Like Jason said, it's not in my contract. It's your job. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is." All heads were nodding in agreement.
'Well, it's not in my contract to look after staff' I felt like saying. 'I don't have to take you to appointments, or arrange appointments. I don't have to give you advice. I don't have to see your children. I don't have to tell you how to deal with that STD. I don't have to do any of the things I am happy to do whenever you come and see me.'
I didn't say this. I tried to be diplomatic. I failed.
In the corridor after the meeting.
"I'm not a nurse. They need to do their job."
"If they don't like it, change jobs."
"They never come and see the kids when we call them. What do they do all day?"
I wasn't supposed to hear this. But I did.
It's not the first time.
Why I want to give up nursing, Part I
"I want my son to be tested for swine flu" said Mrs Smith.
"Ah, but your son hasn't been ill" I replied.
"He's had a cough, you saw him in the health center earlier in the week" countered Mrs Smith.
"I'm sorry, but he hasn't been back to see us. We did send all parents an email explaining the criteria for isolating students. We also explained we can only test according to government guidelines."
"I want my son tested. Then he can be treated sooner"
"I understand..."
"I don't care what you understand. You're not listening to me. I want my son tested"
"I'm sorry...."
"You're not sorry. You don't care. I'm a mother ten thousand miles away worried about her son."
"I understand...
"You don't understand. You're rude, obnoxious, uncaring..."
I turned the phone off.
I saw her son later that night. He seemed pretty well with his girl friend on one arm and a burning cigarette in the other.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
That extra mile
When do you want to go that extra mile for a patient? Or more accurately I should say 'why' do you go that extra mile?
It's not a big deal, in fact it can be quite small, but doing that bit extra can be as simple as forking out 50 cents for the old fella in room 1 who hasn't got money for his morning paper.
It may involve rounding up four nurses on a busy morning to help one patient to the shower who's been bed sponged for the last month.
It may be phoning up a patients neighbor to make sure their pets get fed.
The list of extra things we do is not always part of the job description, but we do them anyway. We do them because it is not just right, we do them because it feels right.
But there's one thing I've noticed about the people for whom I do the extra things.
They're not demanding. They're often old. They're really nice to the people looking after them. They appreciate what we do for them.
Their only fault is that they sometimes suffer in silence because they don't want to be a burden.
They're not rude, obnoxious, demanding, threatening or abusive.
It pays to be nice. And we appreciate your appreciation. You see, we like to go that extra mile.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
keep your clothes on
She was every man's worst nightmare, at least to work with. She was eighteen years old with wavy blonde hair, blue eyes, a perfect figure, but worst of all, she knew she was a knockout and knew how to use it.
I gotta say something, I can't keep looking at the ceiling. Hell, the low seating sure doesn't help. I'll have to say something. Not sure if it's appropriate, but it's making me uncomfortable.
"Chloe, this is getting ridiculous, please cover yourself" I demanded.
"Why sir? What on earth is wrong" Chloe flicked her hair and beamed a smile at me.
"It seems you've never learned to dress yourself properly. Your blouse is half undone, the top half that is, and everyone can see your chest" I explained.
Chloe made no effort to cover herself "It's awfully hot sir, just getting some fresh air" Chloe's smile was definitely looking predatory.
"Chloe, do I have to call your father and tell him you can't dress properly? I'm sure your assets work well with the rest of mankind, but in my health center you're going to dress properly." Chloe still didn't make an effort to do up her top.
It was time to cruel. Cruel to be kind that is. "And besides Chloe, as a nurse I've seen more breasts than you can imagine, and much more memorable ones."
Chloe quickly buttoned her top up.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Let's get constuctive, not destructive
In New Zealand some Maori folks like to call the health system racist. They say their needs aren't being met.
Now let's just think about this a moment.
1. Some individual people may be racist, but how can you call a system racist when all it tries to do is help the sick.
2. No system is perfect, and people from all backgrounds probably feel at some stage or another that their local hospital doesn't quite meet their needs.
3. How is calling the system racist help anyone? Think about it a bit. Whether it's meant to or not, all talk like this is going to do is make a lot of good, caring, hard working nurses upset. Nurses take this personally, at least every single nurse I've worked with does.
4. Wouldn't it be more constructive to say "Hey, we've got a big problem with whatever..." be it with drinking, smoking, diet, access to health, heart disease etc. And then say "What can be done to solve these problems?"
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