Random vents from the last two nights I worked...

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.
I had a bad night, too (it's a full moon somewhere in the solar system, right?). Had a pt on q2h neuro checks, walk in to do the midnight check, and she's obviously had something really bad go down -- r side flaccid, couldn't talk, one pupil a pin point, one blown, fixed. I woke up the neurologist, got him in, and he writes a list of orders a mile long. ICU starts pitching a fit about not wanting to take her, but I can't do the q15minute neuro/VS checks, cont. pulseox, and hang the "must be visually observed" IV meds when I've already got 6 others, including another evolving CVA with q2 neuros, a new onset seizure with q2 neuros, 2 PEGs with q4 bolus feedings, and a paralytic illeus that's stopped putting stool out of her colostomy bag. I make a deal to take one of their patients if they'll take my pt. We get her to the ICU, with the ICU charge giving me #*@& every step, saying we should have kept her on our floor since she "isn't that bad." I'd had the patient about 3 times in the last year for things like gallstones, pneumonia, etc., and she went from A/O x3 and talking to me to a flaccid lump. The pt. goes into respiratory arrest as we're moving her from our bed to theirs. This was ICU, and everyone was looking at my patient like they couldn't believe she'd stopped breathing. I'm trying to help get the ambu bag, get her on the pulse ox, etc., and this isn't even my unit. The travelers were standing around like, "wha happ?" Trauma07, wish you'd been there, you sound like you're awesome at what you do. The group I had last night, wasn't. It broke my mean old nursy heart, I just found out she passed away on dayshift. They think she ultimately threw some kind of a major something in the brainstem. Luckily, they'd made her a DNR by that time.

What the heck, I kept the other 7 alive....:crying2:

Yah, that patient needed to be sent to ICU stat. I don't know what those ICU nurses were thinking. That's way too much especially for your unit and the patients that you have. I think there are a few ICU nurses who become a bit cocky and think they know everything. The ICU charge didn't have any right to judge you because she only got part of the story. I think you did a wonderful job under the circumstances.

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

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Specializes in Oncology.

It's been nuts here too. Few really sick patients, few really confused patients.

I'm so thankful I have excellent coworkers.

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Specializes in ICU.
No get your own vent thread. This one is mine. Just kidding. Yeah, I understand how you feel about the unofficial charge nurse thing. It's kind of the same thing for me. I'm the most senior nurse on the night shift and we have a lot of newer ICU nurses so on top of having my own assignment, I have to make sure the other nurses are ok. Saturday night when I came in, I took a couple nurses from days into the storage room and just vented about the shift and how stressed I am and how I feel I'm expected to babysit these new nurses who get crappy orientations. Like tonight, have someone fresh off orientation, well about two weeks, he's asked me about 50 questions so far tonight. I might as well just take his patient. It's driving me nuts. It's not fair to me, the other nurses or the patients. And you know it's bad when the resident says, "I can't believe they brought the liver transplant patient up here but when I saw that you were going to be the primary nurse, I feel better"....That is the saddest thing ever. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I'm frustrated.

Me too. I want to call in tomorrow.

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

So do I. I just can't be everything to everyone. It bugs me.

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Specializes in ICU.
So do I. I just can't be everything to everyone. It bugs me.

oh wow! I feel the same way! It might be a little different if they paid me a differential or something.

I might feel a little better.

I guess that's what we get for being smart and on top of things. Maybe we should just hide in our little corners and pretend that we barely know enough to keep our jobs. That would make for an easier shift.

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

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Specializes in School Nursing.

i do hope you have better shifts than this last one. some day's you're the windshield, some days your the bug ! hang in there !! ;)

praiser :heartbeat

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Specializes in Telemetry & Obs.
I try to hide but they always find me. LOL. But seriously it's true. Last night was better, I took a few steps back. We admitted a patient straight from OR and I did my best to not be bossy and just let the primary nurse tell me what he needed. He's about two months off orientation but he handled it well. The other nurse I worked with, is two weeks off orientation, still has a lot of questions, I lost count how many. But it ticks me off that from speaking with him, no preceptor thoroughly explained the protocols to him. So I made him pull the protocol out for insulin and go over it. He's not really confident and sometimes I think he's looking for a lot of validation that he's doing ok. But last night I still had my moments where I felt the lifeforce being sucked from me. I try not to take it so personally but lately it's just been really stressing me out. I cried before my shift saturday night and I shouldn't ever have to, but I had to let it out.

(((((TraumaNurse07)))))

Sweetie, be kind to yourself. You know how you can stretch and stretch and stretch a rubber band and it keeps snapping back?? Well, sooner or later it just breaks. It's not the rubber band's fault...it's not meant to stretch to it's limits over and over again. You're not either.

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Specializes in ER.

Everyone else has said what I would have said. They are lucky to have you.

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Specializes in ICU.
I try to hide but they always find me. LOL. But seriously it's true. Last night was better, I took a few steps back. We admitted a patient straight from OR and I did my best to not be bossy and just let the primary nurse tell me what he needed. He's about two months off orientation but he handled it well. The other nurse I worked with, is two weeks off orientation, still has a lot of questions, I lost count how many. But it ticks me off that from speaking with him, no preceptor thoroughly explained the protocols to him. So I made him pull the protocol out for insulin and go over it. He's not really confident and sometimes I think he's looking for a lot of validation that he's doing ok. But last night I still had my moments where I felt the lifeforce being sucked from me. I try not to take it so personally but lately it's just been really stressing me out. I cried before my shift saturday night and I shouldn't ever have to, but I had to let it out.

OMG I think you are my twin! Life forces being sucked out, Hiding, wanting to call in, crying, getting stressed out... Thats me too! We should start a club.... we could call it the "Give Me A Raise Or Leave Me Alone So I Can DO My Job" Club.

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trauma, the more you post, the more i am thoroughly convinced that you are a natural born preceptor, sent from nh (nurse's heaven).

me thinks you've found your calling.

leslie

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