Sometimes you have to stop writing your book and go to the work that actually pays your bills … and is an endless source of entertainment.
You have to know, I love my nurses. The majority of them are professional, experienced and crazy enough to choose emergency nursing as their trade, and THAT is even worse than being an emergency doctor.
I worked in the Rapid Assessment and Treatment area today. It is one of the most high-impact and quick turnaround areas in the Emergency Department. You have to answer three questions there. Is your patient going to die? If so, how quickly and what can you do to stop it? Then implement whatever initial treatment will hold them in this world for a little bit longer so that they can have a proper assessment. Sometimes we have as little as 15 minutes to do everything, including the ECG, cannulation and initial doctor assessment, so as you imagine, it’s ‘All hands on deck’ and sometimes we tackle patients in a team of two or three.
Today, I came to do an assessment, and was barely through the curtain while a male nurse (an awesome guy that’s a privilege to work with), was taking a blood sample from an elderly patient’s arm. He didn’t see me walk into the cubicle as his back was to the entrance, but the patient saw me, and the conversation unfoldedlike this:
‘Ohh, you have beautiful hair,’ She smiled at me, and I nodded to her in reply.
‘Thank you, my dear,’ answered the male nurse, and the patient looked at him with a frown while I bit my lip, trying not to laugh.
‘I’m talking to her, not you,’ (patient had dementia and little to no filter).
The poor man blushed, and the paramedics who handed over the patient burst into a chorus of laughter. Finally, the patient decided to show a little mercy and nodded to the man who held the needle in her vein.
‘Ok, ok, you have good hair too.’
Because even if you work in ED, you are not allowed to have a bad hair day.