First day on my own...uneventful, I THINK NOT!!!

So last Thursday I had a CRAZY shift to say the least!!! 

Where do I start...well probably in the room of a patient who I will call "Joe" for the sake of privacy.  I met Joe on my orientation shift a couple nights before but he was now in a different room.  The previous PCT had given me a warning to make sure he didn't "escape" to the lobby...hence the reason for change of rooms.  Now he had to walk past the nurses station before leaving the unit.  I walked into his room and he started sharing choice words about how upset he was and how he was going to leave the hospital.  The nurse heard him yelling all the way down the hall so she quickly came in and started talking with him.  The unit had called security earlier in his stay due to his outbursts in fear he would hurt a staff member.  And quite honestly he towered over every single staff member at 6'2" and 325lbs.  I did NOT want him anymore mad at nurse or me, so thankfully we managed to get him calm enough to agree to stay.  It sometimes surprises me the way patients react sometimes.  No, we are not a hotel and never claim to give "hotel service," but we will do everything that you will allow to help you get better.  Unfortunately this patient cared more about the timeliness of getting to eating dinner then making sure his health was under control.  He claimed that it did not come at a "reasonable hour" and in his mind that was at 4:30 in the afternoon!  Later in the night we had to call the doctor to talk to Joe about the importance of staying at the hospital until his health problems had been resolved.  Thankfully, security did not need to be called anymore for him :)

Once again I had a pleasant, but busy evening after that point.  I did everything you can think of...vitals, washing my hands, emptying commodes, washing my hands, emptying cath bags, washing my hands, BGMs, washing my hands, changing diapers, washing my hands.  I think I spent most of my time washing my hands...NO nosocomial infection from me!  Hahaha, but seriously!

On my second half of my shift was was transferred to be a sitter for a patient who was going through alcohol withdrawal.  At first she was really pleasant, so it seemed like I was going to have an easy rest of the night.  But boy, was I wrong!  Her IV started leaking and the pain medications were beginning to wear off which is not a good combination.  Two nurses and four attempts later, a new IV was started on her which was good because they needed to hang a new bag of medication.  While this new bag was suppose to help her, it made her extremely suspicious of EVERYONE.  At times it was quite humorous in a sad sort of way.  She kept on asking me why I was in her room and why I had stolen all of her silverware.  Then she started to get a little worse, she called people on the phone saying that she did not know why this "babysitter" (meaning me) was in her room.  It was a little odd having someone talk about me to someone else when I was only 3 feet from her.  Her phone would not hang up and she became agitated, until I told her she was hanging the phone up on the remote control! 

The purpose of me sitting in her room was to make sure she didn't fall due to the strong medications she was taking.  She did not appreciate that as the night went on because that meant I had to keep her from getting out of bed.  I do not think I have every had a person saying so many words to me in my life...I do not even know how she managed to fit all the choice words into sentences.  If there was an award for swearing like a sailor for the night she would have gotten it!  I sort of surprised myself by not being fazed by it all.  She was uncomfortable.  She had lost all of her independence.  And she could no longer drink to solve all of her problems.  She even told me at the end of the night, that she would not be that "crazy" if I just gave her a drink.  She also told me that she would not forget me yelling at her...little did she know that I was not the one yelling or even saying a word back to her when she went on a rant about how horrible of a person I was...lol. 

By the end of the night, I was ready to clock out, let my feet rest (comfortable shoes are a MUST), & drive home listening to soothing music.  This job is already creating some crazy memories and learning experiences and I am so grateful to have it.  The staff I work with is amazing and I am blessed to be able to learn from them.  This weekend I went shopping for comfortable shoes with a friend, so tomorrow night I cannot say it will be less eventful, but at least my feet will be happier :)