Insults, Alarms, & Compliments

Today was an interesting day! Let me tell you!

The day began with a nurse assignment. I was very blessed to be paired up with a nurse who went to my school and took the same classes! We talked a lot! She allowed me to work on my own, which was fine because if I was unsure about ANYthing....I would tell her immediately. So we had a trusting relationship right away.

I was assigned to a patient that was around my age who was 20 wks pregnant with a baby boy. She was admitted to the unit with Pyelonephritis, a complication that usually arises from a UTI (urinary tract infection). Apparently, she let the UTI go untreated and the infection spread to her kidneys. She has a complicated family life from what I heard. Upon meeting her, I was able to address her needs and keep her comfortable. Pain management was difficult as she refused any pain meds because she felt 'weird' after taking them. So I check on her frequently and eventually I was able to convince her to take some Tylenol! Yay! She told me when I first met her that she would like to shower, so I told her to call me when she wanted to so I could get her towels, soap, etc. After reminding her a few times, the CNA comes up to me and said, "She's in the shower, and she was complaining that no one was going to give her anything to take a shower." And apparently she wasn't happy at all and my nurse and I had 'insulted' her. Hey, it happens. Not everyone is going to be happy with the care you provide.

All of a sudden, the fire alarm goes off.....and it wasn't a drill. So my instructor and I closed all the doors and just waited til it was cleared up. It could have been serious! But, it wasn't. Everyone safe!......so that caught me off guard.

Then as I'm checking on another patient, my nurse comes to me and says..."Do you know that are patient just snuck out of here?" I was like....really? honestly? "She rolled her IV pole to the first floor and lit a cigarette outside." ohhhhh my goodness! Well if you think about it, I can't stop her. I can tell her that smoking is bad for her, and her baby, and her healing....and against hospital policy, and illegal on this campus.....but words can only do so much.

Then that got me thinking....that poor baby! Anyways....so my other patient was discharged but she stayed in a "boarder room," which is a room where you can stay if your baby is in critical care or needs to stay in the nursery. So she stayed there and we got to talking. She gave birth to a beautiful baby boy who was a little jaundice and needed extra nutrition through IV fluids. Then this patient came up to my instructor and gave me like the biggest compliment EVER!! I almost cried!

Moving on....I can honestly say that this job is going to be very humbling; both in dealing with people's emotions and dealing with people who ignore your advice to live a healthier lifestyle. Like I said earlier, nurses are here to teach what we know so that these patients can be healthier, live longer, and feel better about themselves. But we only can change and do so much in improving their health.....I'm just glad I have the opportunity to try :)

Until tomorrow....I'm exhausted....lights out!