NursingZen

Friday night: Heard through the grapevine that I’m going to get a new admission — on side B, while also having patients far away on side A — a no-no. The manager and I saw each other on the floor, so why am I hearing this through my colleagues and not directly from her?

Saturday night: Several nurses and I are supposed to be practicing a new computerized system. Suddenly in a big flurry a manager says, “The word from UP TOP is that we need nurses to admit patients NOW.” Everyone jumps because the person UP TOP says so.

Some other night: I’m one-hour overtime because right before change of shift my patient goes bonkers and won’t stay in bed and is developing a gigantic hematoma. I let the supervisor know this after I’ve stabilized the patient and I’m asked:

“Why didn’t you let us know sooner?”

“Well I couldn’t, because my patient was confused, agitated, and bleeding and it took three of us to keep her bleeding under control.”

“Oh, but still…”