So Sunday night I had the ride of my life.First of all I picked a random shift after vowing that the next two weeks I am not picking a shift until school is out so I was like ok whatever its an eight p to eight cant be that bad I will go and sleep as usual and be ready for class the next day.My supervisor begged me to do it - said it was a neighbor of the owner of the company - apparently big money, lives in a huge mansion by the sea in MarbleHead and apparently my supervisor reckons "am good with families". So am like whatever will do it.Shock on me I get the text that the patient is in the hospital so it would be a night vigil.Am like ok stay positive Penny cant be that bad - though remembering my nights at Sunbridge am thinking oh boy...So anyhu night starts of well met the family as they were leaving - gave me a little run down of the patient bla bla bla showed me pics of the grand kids and great grand kids....She had her own private room - yeah big money but in my head am thinking yeah we can draw the curtain and catch a few zzz.I really hope I do not reach a point where I offer care to someone differently just because they are so and so or can pay for my college fund lol..So night starts fine hang out with Mrs X - names withehld for HIPAA privacy (sic) chat a bit ask her about her kids - she was on and off - abit uncomfortable basically I was doing the Florence Nightingale stuff - reposition, dry lips with vaseline etc..However she started getting very uncomfortable her face seemed to look pale so I called her nurse her pulse ox - was 85% saturation - you want it at least above 92% so big problems looming.Called respiratory they did an ABG - blood from her artery - very painful and there Mrs X was such a good sport - mind you she is in her 90s.I Was encouraging her, reminding her of her big cheering squad - her grandkids -racking my head to remember their names...Listened to her lungs - crackles all around - more looming problems, her edema in her feet was getting worse, her jugular vein was becoming distended,her abdomen was retaining fluid too - more problems looming.(read as Congestive Heart Failure.)So its one a.m all this is going on my sleep had started kicking in coz I have not done an overnight like that in a minute so he doc comes in and after a few pokes and prodes he determines she needs to go to the ICU...Okay You can do this Penny...so took down her pics on the wall, packed her stuff and off we went.By this time the family had been notified of the change of status - by the way had I mentioned some had flown in from Florida,Kansas so am like wow ok so now I have to deal with the family as well to add on to the mix...So off we went to the ICU - had to wait a while as they did they admission assesment In the waiting the family came in - I was in the waiting room.And they immediately run up to me asking me the tough questions that I honestly asked myself wow am I reallycut out for this?? "Do you think she will make it through the night?" "Will it be possible to take her home on oxygen maybe she pass away more peaceful?" In my head am thinking wow how do you look someone in the face and talk about the realities that they may loose their loved one .what answer can you give thats not a lie and thats not brutally gut wrenching honest.And just like a scripted E.R drama I was like "we cannot determine anything though I can tell you she really is a tough cookie." So anyhu into the ICU we went - its about 5am am like wow 3 more hours - yeah any idea of sleep at this point is out the window...However after like half an hour the family was like you know what Penny you have been so good to us and our mum we wiill stay you should leave and get some rest we have already paid for twelve hours though...so they insisted and I was like ok.told the family and Mrs X bye and trudged to my car and off to bed...- it was freezing.....so what should have been a quiet shift turned into quite a learning experience - I mean from a nursing student perspective - she had a bladder scan, IV lab draws, ABGs done, respiratory it was the full bang for your buck...and then of course it showed me a place in nursing that is my ultimate fear - death and dying.We actually had a class on Hospice care the day after - coincidence or what and the speaker was like not just anyone becomes a hospice nurse - there is that factor X which I do not know if I personally have it.Next day after passing out for a few hours - supervisor voice mail - family loved you they want you back as soon as possible but no really am on a two week hiatus until school is out...but hey will not mind hanging out at the mansion by the sea lol ;).
I hear and I forget.I see and I remember.I do and I understand.
-Confucus
No comments:
Post a Comment