Thursday, May 31, 2012

Harmony for All

The evening shift has its own vibe. At 3 PM I can walk into absolute chaos with staff spinning in their own individual orbits:  nurses, secretaries, X-ray techs, lab techs, and let's not forget docs.  I hate walking into chaos, people wound as tight as rubber bands.  I like calm.  No panic until it's time to panic.  Breathe in, breathe out.

My first official act is to GET THE DAY SHIFT OUT.  Currently, my colleagues are great people whose only fault is the mistaken notion that they cannot leave for the day with a single task undone. Often it has been such a busy day that after a full shift of fu*kery, there is not a single other thing you can do except leave.  Quietly.  And pour yourself a glass of wine when you get home.

I'm not really complaining.  Every nurse who has walked this planet has, at some point,  wanted to strangle with their own stethoscopes nurses who are so lazy that they waltz out the door in the middle of a shit storm, waiting with their coats on, purse on the shoulder, and car keys in hand.  Being on the  report-receiving end of a train-wreck with a shit ton of unfinished business just doesn't make anybody's day.  Report not given to the floor nurse, charts not filled out, pain meds 2 hours overdue, no labs drawn, antibiotics not started and patients not updated for hours.  Crazy busy happens, but when the nurse is chatting with EMT's and hasn't taken one of 10 people in the waiting room in two hours or is online shopping, that is unforgivable.  Shame on you.  That goes double for nurses who sit back reading the paper while directing the ER tech to do all the work.

Like I said, calm.  Let's just all be one in the moment.  Breathe in.  Breathe out.  Ommmmmmmmm............