Monday, August 25, 2008

half naked crazy men

I'm still chuckling as I type this, I'm at work, I'm charge nurse again, I'm orienting a new nurse again.
Part of the charge role is handling any problems that come up on the floor, be that patient or staffing, or problems with families, arguments between staff, whatever.

Tonight we had a staffing issue, I spent about an hour and half on the phone calling nurses at home to ask if they feel like working. While I'm doing that a confused but fairly able bodied patient who has a person in the room with him at all times to watch him and is wearing a posey vest (a vest that has ties that keep him in the bed so he doesn't fall) manages to get out of the vest, and jump out of his bed and run down the hall. The problem being he pulls out a chest tube ( a tube that goes into the lung and drains air or fluid that shouldn't be there) and breaks his iv line tubing while doing it.

We walk him back to his room where he announces he needs to use the bathroom, NOW. we sit him down and I notice his IV line is dripping blood, I pinch it off and tell another nurse that we can probably save his IV if we get the peice that connects to it.

Now picture this, I'm standing in a tiny bathroom with a half naked wild man, bent over and pinching off his iv line with my fingers so it doesn't drip> Security shows up too late as usual so there are about three security guards in and around the room, two other nurses and and about two cna's cleaning up the room and bed so we can put this man back into it.

At this time a supervisor from the nursing office comes into the room, pokes her head around the bathroom door and yells over a nurse at me, "so what's going on with your staffing?"

I was so surprised I blinked at her, than gathered myself and said-"Well we are in the middle of an emergency right now and I can't talk to you but I'll be there in a minute."

Does anyone else but me find it odd that a supervisor would want to talk about staffing while I'm in a tiny bathroom with a crazy half naked man?

Yup still giggling as I'm writing this...nursing is a crazy job!

ooh yeah...then as I'm walking down the hall a little later the iv nurse comes out of that same room yelling "ok, do you need anything else?" and I answer the first thing that I can think of "A lobotomy and some tights!" Thouroughly confusing her. Points if you know where I got that quote from. Maybe a prize too if I can think of something good.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

No, it doesn't surprise me they wanted to discuss your staffing no matter what you're doing. I've had them want to talk in the middle of a code.. and I was on the code team!! I love the crazy ones.. they're frustrating, but so funny! just gets to be old hat before long!
hugs,
Jean

Mighty Morphin' Mama said...

Sounds like you are keeping your sense of humour in the midst of the craziness. Good for you:)
Hope you are having a better week,
Kristen