August 16, 2006 | Filed under: hello, nurse!, misadventures
click here or above for Quicktime
or here for Flash at BlipTV
If this one is a little dark because it was, in fact, filmed in the dark. I lightened it up a little, but it’s terribly grainy. Sorry. This one’s more for the audio, anyhow.
It has been sheer hell at work these last several days. For whatever reason, an excess of mid-winter nookie, the astonishing changes in barometric pressure after that thunderstorm this past week, the full moon, and who knows why else, there has been a sharp increase in the baby-havin’ at my hospital. That would be fine except that there has been an accompanying sharp decrease in nursing staff. Why? It’s Summer. Those who hold a grudge about not getting any Summer Vacation have chosen to abuse their sick time privilages. Folks are cancelling their overtime left and right, and one of our RN’s got exposed to the chicken pox and has been determined to be non-immune and has been quarantined. For two weeks. Did administration cover her shifts? No. So on a floor that should be staffed by eight nurses at all times (and really, we’re lucky to ever have six anyway) we’ve been running with four or five. It’s stressful. Actually, it’s damn near impossible, but somehow we pull it off. I’ve decided to attempt to be part of the solution instead of part of the problem by forcing myself to show up to work instead of calling out sick because I’m so burnt out…I hate to say it but it’s not an easy decision to make.
On the night I filmed this, the five of us managed to help get everyone delivered as safely as possible given the circumstances (every day this week I’ve come home and kissed my nursing license because no patient has yet suffered from our lack of staff thus lessening my chances of being sued and keeping my malpractice insurance costs nice and low) and the Charge Nurse managed for us all to get breaks–no small feat.
But with a full house, there’s noplace to take a break except the nurses’ lounge which is across from all the delivery rooms. Not exactly a quiet place to rest, as you’ll see. How can you rest with a patient screaming “IhateyouIhateyouIhateyougetitoutgetitoutgetitoutwhywon’tyouHELPME???!!!” over and over combined with the cheerless cheering to “push!” by that night’s less-than-stellar resident team?
Please know that although the MD comes into the hall screaming for a nurse to come in the room that I didn’t rush to my feet because I knew there already WAS a nurse in the room and that for some reason although there were THREE residents in the patient’s room and only ONE nurse those bozos STILL expected THE NURSE to page the attending.
I really don’t like that MD team. They just don’t mesh well, they don’t know how to talk to patients (”No yelling! No yelling!” are you kidding me??) and they treat us like poo.
August 16, 2006
@ 5:49 pm
Wow! You’d think they would find y’all a break room just a tad further from all of that.
Not much of a break huh?
Dawn
August 16, 2006
@ 9:17 pm
Dang, that is intense. Again, just another reason why nurses should be paid more!
Thank goodness for nurses!
August 16, 2006
@ 9:38 pm
sounded like a typical night at my house actually…….
August 17, 2006
@ 7:01 am
you are so kindly with all these noises, I would become mad
PS: you are so A-M-A-Z-I-N-G with your hair free, wow
August 17, 2006
@ 7:04 am
Yes, I HAVE tried to catch a nap in a L&D unit (as a Doula). I have also witnessed some pretty silly residents. Sounds like these folks got in a little over their heads (3 residents in one room?!?! Sounds like a major repair was about to be necessary). You have my empathy…
If I could, I would spot ya. In the meantime just take care of yourself.
August 17, 2006
@ 9:56 am
I don’t understand it at all! Your job is to care for people and you have to work exhausting hours, without a decent place to rest in between…this makes no sense to me! I have a friend who also works in a hospital and it amazes me how difficult the system is. Oh, don’t even get me started on this one. I just could go on and on and on. No idea how you do it.
Well, at least you see lovely …uh…screaming…babie…s…hmmm. grin.
Charlene
August 17, 2006
@ 1:18 pm
That was a strange/interesting moment to record.
But, let me ask you, is that the only place you can rest?
Does “rest” mean actually just not doing anything, but stil listening to all the crazyness going on?
I’m sure you gals already talk about this, but you should have a better place to rest. Someplace where you can actually take a peaceful nap.
August 17, 2006
@ 2:25 pm
I watched this before I read the description underneath, and all I could think at first was “Damn - she has some rude-ass neighbors and some thin walls!” Then when I realized where you were I didn’t know whether to be more disturbed or relieved that it was work and not home.
August 18, 2006
@ 3:13 am
I did the same as Tim… I was going to comment to you to “freakin’ move!!!”.. that’t the closest I will ever come to a birth.
August 18, 2006
@ 1:26 pm
oh man! the memories!
you have a lot of fortitude, bekah!
August 18, 2006
@ 4:32 pm
amazing moment that you captured.
you’re good at that! no screaming? she’s having a baby and she can’t scream? oh no you didn’t! craziness.
August 18, 2006
@ 9:56 pm
With all that overwhelming sensitivity from the doctors, I now applaud myself for getting a midwife this time around.
August 19, 2006
@ 12:57 am
oh my god - this is the best fVcking video i’ve seen in a long long time - NICE!
August 20, 2006
@ 2:50 pm
This was pretty funny. Well maybe not at the time for you since you were tired but watchin it and seeing your expressions yeah that really put a smile on my face.
As for nurses and MD’s there almost always seems to be tension. I volunteer as an EMT and have witnessed some of it during my time in the hospitals. I agree that you all are a team that needs to communicate and work together and not treat each other like poo.
August 21, 2006
@ 9:38 am
You need headphones with Moody Blues playing on them.
August 22, 2006
@ 6:43 am
Okay, so I’m glad to see that I wasn’t the only person who thought that you were at home.
When I played the video, my first thought was, “DA-YAM, the people in Queens are LOUD when they’re having sex.”
Then, when someone yelled, “We need a nurse in the room!!!” I thought: what. the. hell?!?!
August 22, 2006
@ 7:26 pm
Hope you get some more staff on the floor soon. Hang in there!
August 23, 2006
@ 9:22 am
Two words: foam earplugs.
August 27, 2006
@ 11:17 am
I really wish I could view your video blogs….my connection to the internet is dial-up still (blech). But it sounds like your unit is just like my L&D unit. Understaffed, too many babies coming, a sentinel event waiting to happen. Oh, and not to forget the panicked NEW RESIDENTS!
August 27, 2006
@ 9:06 pm
I’m sorry you’re being run ragged.
On the plus side you’re still mighty fine!
Hope things are well, and that they get better!
Hugs,
J