I can post blogs from work! Ha! Just discovered this!! Viewing my blog is blocked, but posting a blog is not. How odd.
Well, it is 4am... the life of a night nurse. Tonight just happens to be a :::slow::: night. Yikes I may have just jinxed myself by typing that!
Thought you might enjoy a small peek into my night as a nurse...
-Left the house a 6:10pm.
-Clocked in at 6:53pm.
-Printed off my patients' profiles - three sheets summarizing their information.
-Sat down with the nurse who worked from 7am to 7pm.
-Got a report about each patient... their history, why they are here, what happened today, anything pending to follow up on... etc etc etc.
-Checked the computer and read all the labs, test results, etc.
-Walked into each room with the other nurse - she says good bye... I say hello... hello hello! (beatles reference anyone?)
-Go through the medication record and see if there is anything I need to give in the next hour.
-See each of my patients and assess them head to toe... while at the same time joking around with them about how awful The Situation is on Dancing with the Stars. Ha! One of my patients was watching that show tonight.
-Tonight my patients were:
*Patient A: came in because of dizziness, possible stroke. The stroke was ruled out. YAY for her.
*Patient B: Frequent falls at home. Did some tests... nothing found... deciding if home alone is the best place for her...my opinion is no.
*Patient C: Right knee pain... possible metastaic cancer to the knee. :(
*Patient D: Total hip replacement.
*Patient E: Cellulitis of the foot. She had a blister... it popped... and now is red and infected and ew.
-Charted on all my patients after I assessed them.
-Hung some antibiotics
-Straight catheterized a patient since she couldn't pee on her own (tube goes in to drain urine... tube comes out). 6 hours later she still couldn't pee so I put in an indwelling foley catheter (attached to a collection bag)
-Passed some pain medications
-Ran around the hospital looking for a cot for Patient D's fiance to sleep in.
-Helped Patien Bget hooked up to her CPAP machine that she wears for her sleep apnea.
-Took a break and ate some shrimp with asparagus over a bed of rice.
-Printed off lecture slides for my three classes that are starting today. UGH.
-Went through all my patients' charts and made sure the last 24 hours of doctors' orders were followed through.
-Helped another nurse fix her patient's epidural machine.
-Responded to a "rapid response call"... one of the patient's on our floor was having an anaphylactic reaction to an antibiotic she was receiving.
-Encouraged Patient D to do her breathing exercises so she won't get pneumonia.
-Charted some more...
-Emptied Patient D's wound drain.
.... and the night goes on....
I could go on, but it really is just boring. All of my patients are really darling though. They are all super nice and fun to talk to which is a rarity.
... maybe I should do some work. Back to being a nurse!
I am so envious of your job right now. Well except for the parts that I couldn't handle like draining someone's wound. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteHahah! I didn't think it was boring AT ALL. I am actually fascinated that you are a nurse because, in my mind, being a nurse is such an impossible profession.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to imagine you putting in catheters and hanging antibiotics - because you're, like, my friend.
i also was EXTREMELY fascinated. i had no idea what you job actually did entail. youre awesome.
ReplyDeletei had to get a google account to read lauras blog so i can now post comments!! one step closer to my own blog!
Interesting post. I've read it from start to finish. I also work at night, but not as demanding as yours. Catheter is not a new thing to me. I took care of my fathers' during his short final stay in the hospital. Hip replacement and asr hip recall are a new thing to me and I'm googling every bit of it.
ReplyDelete