When I walk in the door and the receptionist tells me that we are the only vet hospital in the basin that has a vet. This is a 300 square mile area.
Someone comes to the back in the middle of an ortho surgery and says, "We have a blocked cat or a hit by car coming in". I realize that I'm the only tech in the building as well as the current sterile surgical assistant.
I get a phone call at 0100 rapidly saying, "Fuzzy, I owe you big time but can you come in and help me? I have one emergency here and two more on the way. Thanks"
The kennel help has quit or they're all on vacation, so the techs get to do kennels as well as their duties too.
I see a car with government plates in the parking lot.
When you walk in and the night nurse before you says " God bless you because nobody else will!" Then you see one of the other nurses being carried off on a stretcher.
When you get to the station to pick up report, and: you have 1 CNA, because the other one called out, 3 nurses because the other 2 called out, and only one US, because the other one called out, which means you can either have someone watch telemetry OR answer the callbell/phones.
You're the only one on the shift who's been in a code on a shift -- this automatically summons the code gods.
The day shift charge nurse has assigned you all the patients circling the drain, looks at you and says, "you're going to be the most experienced nurse on the floor tonight, don't let the babies kill anyone."
When you look at the assignment sheet and see half of the staff requested to not be assigned to the patient in room 3312. You then look at your assignment and realize you are assigned to room 3312.
when i look at the names on the report and realize that at least 4 of the patients have required emergency medication/seclusion/restraints in the past... and i am way understaffed. i start to wonder if anyone would notice if i just wandered back to my car .... :innerconf
When you sit down for group report, and half the patients on the sheet have "confused" written in the comment section.
When there's no offgoing nurses sitting in the station ready to give report - that means they're all in a room somewhere, still too busy to come out & give report.
When you walk by your pt's room, and there are three pumps running, with all four channels on each pump in use.
When you look up the history for your new admission, and see multiple psych diagnoses, along with chronic back pain and fibromyalgia.
When you don't have to look up the history for your new admission, because they are a frequent flyer and everyone on the unit knows their history by heart.
When you have an admission who's in for "pain/nausea after D&C at another facility" d/t miscarriage.....despite the fact that you were her nurse when she had a hysterectomy 1 year ago. Let me just roll a drum of demerol into your room and give you a straw....
You walk into work and have a critical patient crashing/ desaturating, and at the time you are about to start report on that patient, you receive a new ICU admit that is vented, thrashing, blood pressure in the 70's, and it's a fellow RN . . .
When you have an admission who's in for "pain/nausea after D&C at another facility" d/t miscarriage.....despite the fact that you were her nurse when she had a hysterectomy 1 year ago. Let me just roll a drum of demerol into your room and give you a straw....
Fuzzy
370 Posts
When I walk in the door and the receptionist tells me that we are the only vet hospital in the basin that has a vet. This is a 300 square mile area.
Someone comes to the back in the middle of an ortho surgery and says, "We have a blocked cat or a hit by car coming in". I realize that I'm the only tech in the building as well as the current sterile surgical assistant.
I get a phone call at 0100 rapidly saying, "Fuzzy, I owe you big time but can you come in and help me? I have one emergency here and two more on the way. Thanks"
The kennel help has quit or they're all on vacation, so the techs get to do kennels as well as their duties too.
I see a car with government plates in the parking lot.
Fuzzy