Whoa

So yesterday was my last day on the "floor" (post-partum/antepartum unit) before I am off orientation and totally on my own. For today and the next three days I am in the nursery. I was kind of excited to have one last day to show my coworkers how ready I was to join them as a grown-up nurse. Hahahaha. Well it turns out that fate had a little something to show me about just how "ready" I thought I was. I started out the morning with 4 patients, 3 of which were to be discharged that day. (The whole discharge process involves a lot of paperwork and usually takes about 2-3 hours to complete). One momma informed me that she couldn't get picked up until 2 pm. This was problematic because the goal is out by 11, and if we are after 11, we have to write up exceptions (ugh). Patient 2 had uncontrolled pain, which I informed the MD about, and then he ordered a new med (injectable). The problem was that for this particular injection, you can't have ibuprofen for 8 hours, and she last got a dose at 6:20. She had basically maxed out all of her limits on other pain medications, so what that meant was that she would be in a lot of pain, with nothing I could do about it, for HOURS. Not good. The second discharge was an 18-year-old who seemed to be under the impression that she was at home. Her boyfriend slept in bed with her, and the room was a MESS. Stuff all over. And she refused to wake up and listen to anything I had to say until I literally had to turn on all the lights, and pull off her covers (some of you may remember doing similar things to your sleeping teenagers). The last patient was a fetal demise. The baby had passed away the day before and the mom wanted to see him one last time before the funeral home came to get him. So I had to go to the morgue and get him. In a picnic basket. Sorry to be graphic and disturbing, but I was a little disturbed myself! The basket looks like this:
Since the bodies are so super tiny, this is the easiest and most private way for us to transport them. Ugh. On the way back down, a food services employee asked if I was going to have a picnic. Um, no. I also just feel awkward being a nurse to a mother who just lost her child. There are just no words and nothing I can do to comfort her. It's hard. Meanwhile, woman in pain is on her call light every two minutes because she is so agitated from the pain. Teenager finally got up (once her mom came and yelled at her). We waited and waited for the doctor to come see the mom who wanted to leave by two, but she hadn't come be 1:30. So I page her: no response. I leave her a voicemail: no response. So I have to call the clinic and have them try to track her down. Finally at 3:45, she calls back and asks me to just put in the orders and discharge the patient. (Putting in the orders is an additional 20 minutes of work) and then the pharmacy sent the wrong meds. By 4:45 they were gone. At 2:30, finally my momma in pain could have her shot. So when I go to give it, the plunger comes detached from the needle and spays Tordol ALL OVER me and the patient. We were both stunned. This has NEVER happened! And then she almost had a huge meltdown when I told her I had to go order more! And then my arm got all itchy because Tordol is apparently not meant to be sprayed on the skin. Go figure. AGH! I almost cried about 4 times yesterday! It was very frustrating, and I left feeling like I had no idea what I was doing!
Today though, I felt much better about the situation. I think that "hell days" are really a good thing (even if you feel like screaming in the midst of them). They teach you so much more than any easy day ever could. And I feel like a better nurse for having handled all of it!
Today I was back in the nursery, which was horribly boring all day (we went form 3 babies first thing to none by 2 pm). Then during the last 2 hours we had 3 deliveries and we were super busy! Maybe tomorrow could be more of a balance. Please.