Just another day in the unit. All was well, actually that's not true. We had a patient in one room that was there because he was seeing things we weren't. Another was having some wonderful family issues that administration had to be called for. One of my families told me all about the family issues the other family was having, only she wasn't getting much of the real story. And we had a couple of patients that were sicker than snot.
So we get a young one transferred in (young in our case is anything under 50). You got to watch the young ones, they go bad in a hurry. So she's in for one thing, doing kinda okay. But then she suddenly started hemorrhaging like crazy. Funny, she calls us in because she was "bleeding a little after she coughed a lot." That was an understatement! She is not here for this, she's here for shortness of breath. Our staff is fairly young, most had not seen anything like this so I was interested in their reactions. Now if I had known what we were getting into we would have worn gear to protect our clothes, but this was sudden. I had blood up to my elbows, one of the new ones got a little on her pants and went and changed clothes (before the patient went to the OR). Turns out the patient had coughed out stitches from a 2 week old surgery and that was what caused the bleeding.
It's in the hussle that you see who is going to survive the long term. Some of them stayed rooted to one spot, some looked confused, some got the light in their eyes that tells me they understand. When the patient started going into shock only one or two observed that and make the appropriate decisions. This happened at shift change, the pt's nurse stayed late that night to make sure everything went well, then she called to see how she did. And she did what I did, worried about "what did I miss" and "what else could I have done." She's a good nurse, and she will be better for the experience, once she processes it.
I worry about the ones that never understood how close this was or never catch on that they missed it. Earlier in the day I was frustrated with one that only went one pace, and he never tells me when he's in trouble. I can't help you if I don't know. But all in all, they are such a good crew and they really want to be better. We'll make it, and the patients will be fine.
1 comment:
Aww, I remember the day well, you were not in a humorous mood. Question.....If she had just had surgery 2 weeks ago at another hospital...isn't she still under warranty, so that hospital should have to pay for her surgery? Don't you think nurses should be in charge of healthcare reform? Just a thought...smile, your on candid camera!
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