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Thursday, August 02, 2012

the get out of jail free card

You are the stabilization (critical) room nurse. No stabs this shift. Its a half hour before the end of your shift. "Helicopter to room 598 stab team 5 minutes". Shit. Turns out this is a transfer from another hosptial with a complex medical history who is now having an acute problem. In other words, get ready. This will be an involved situation. You KNOW you will not get out on time. Despite the fact that you will pass the patient on to a new nurse in half an hour, all the initial stuff, along with charting will have to be done by YOU. Conclusion: You will probably be there another hour. Its been a long day and you just want to go home.

Thats the thing about nursing. You can't just end the shift and say bye bye. Things you are responsible for have to be done. You could be in the middle of a critical situation and aren't just going to walk out.

Oh well.....

Hey wait! "Cancel helicopter to room 589". YESSSSS!! Turns out the patient was a direct admit! You go merrily on your way at shift change. Life is good.

2 comments:

Mark p.s.2 said...

re :charting
I saw a show on aircraft maintenance where the guy at end of shift didn't log the work he had done, the screws he had removed from the plane , then the plane crashed when it was flying because no one had put the screws back in.

jimbo26 said...

Oh , oh , oh , oh ,hohoho .