A Nurse’s Blog Here is an example of a day in the life. 4:45 a.m. My alarm is buzzing like crazy. After working a 14 hour shift the previous day, I could certainly use a few more hours of sleep, which is not going to happen today. Ok, so I'm up. A quick shower, and I have to wake up the kids. 45 minutes later, out the door, followed by kids at school, and I'm on my way to the hospital. The First Four Hours After checking in I went to meet new patients admitted overnight. I have four new patients, and the existing three that were previously admitted. My first new patient is having unexplained gastrointestinal discomfort, in fact severe pain. She is a 55 year old woman, and a CT scan showed some abnormality within the lower intestines. The patient is being observed, and if pain does not subside, she will, face exploratory surgery. Related: Working Holidays My second new patient is a 39 year old male that was in a motorcycle accident and broke his leg in 3 places. He is facing surgery later today. Patient number three is an 89 year old female that was admitted from a nursing home, with chest discomfort. Patient four is a 27 year old female that had her gallbladder removed the previous night. After meeting with each new patient, I checked in on existing patients, and went to take my first break of the day. I was interrupted before leaving on break, a call from an insurance company regarding my elderly patient. It's very frustrating, an 89 year old woman with chest pain, and the insurance company wants her released. After a 20 minute debate with them, I was pleased to say the patient would remain at least 1 more day. I got half of my break and returned to accompany doctors on the rounds. Two patients are requesting pain medication, and my 89 year old patient appears to be getting worse. Within the hour she coded, and our attempts to save her were unsuccessful. Losing a patient is never easy, regardless of the patient's age or circumstances. It's now 2pm and I still have 5 hours to go on, my 12 hour shift. I made my rounds to administer medications, and decided to call the attending physician for my gallbladder patient, she had a terrible rash all over her body. Assuming she had an allergy to one of the medications, she was taken off current medications for pain, and her rash
cleared up within 3 hours. The patient with the broken leg returned from surgery and needed care and pain medication, which took almost 45 minutes. That threw me into late mode for afternoon medications, so I had patients using the call button to remind me. After making rounds with the doctors it was 5:00 p.m. and I was due for a break, however, I skipped it to get caught up on paperwork. Related: What is Prader Willi Syndrome? The next two hours I administered an IV that did not go well, the patient's vein would not cooperate. I was vomited on, yelled at for not being more prompt in regards to the call button, and met with the family of the elderly woman that passed away, in order to give them her personal belongings. As always, we like to meet with families such as in this case, in a consultation room, and to allow time for any questions they may have. The patient's family spoke highly of her, and told several stories about her life and early on career as a Vegas show girl. You never want to rush into a situation such as this, so by the time the family left, it was 6:00 p.m. and my med rounds were going to be late. I had to record how well each patient ate dinner and by the time I gave out medications it was 6:45. I finished up notes for the day, and met with the nurse taking my place, explaining how each patient was doing, and mentioning any concerns. Picked up kids from grandmas, and stopped by McDonald's on our way home. In bed at 11:15 p.m. for a few hours sleep, so that I can wake up and do it all again. I love my job. (Jamie is a nurse that has been in the medical field for 15 years, she works two 12 hour shifts and one 12-14 hour shift per week.) Related: Highly Respected Public Health Nurse Avis K. Warner, RN, will be Spotlighted in the Worldwide Leaders in Healthcare Please follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, Pinterest and Twitter