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Nurse Stories, Part Seventeen: Not On My Shift! (By Louisiana M. Sandusky, R.N.) (Thanks for the title suggestion, Karla! This story is dedicated to you! :) ) (~Part One~) by Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado
Saturday, July 24, 2004
Rated "PG" by the Author.
Louisiana is determined not to lose any patients on her shift in the Emergency Room; but unfortunately, things aren't that simple.
Not if I can help it..I will not have any of my patients that I see today die on me. I will do everything in my power to ensure that they will live.
This is Louisiana Sandusky again. I am doing the E.R. shift; I have been assigned to the E.R. So far, things have been relatively slow; no major crises have happened; but I am waiting for the other shoe to drop and for us to get inundated with patients. Somehow that always seems to happen, each and every time!
Before we get flooded, I get the charts updated and readied for the patients' doctors, and I also get myself a quick cup of java , Cajun-style, which is how I drink my coffee (black, with chickory, for extra, robust flavor!) at the vending machine. I then sit at my desk and do some more paperwork, and I sigh contentedly: for now, all is well with my world.
But then the toners go off, signalling a flurry of activity. The ambulance will be coming in a few minutes; so we best be ready for whatever may come. There is a person down, an adult male in his 60's, who is in full cardiac arrest. He is getting CPR, and so far, attempts to revive him have been unsuccessful. He is pulseless, completely without breath, and his blood pressure is probably hovering somewhere around zero. I tell my fellow nurses to be ready for when the gentleman DOES come, and we try to prepare ourselves mentally for what will happen once the gentleman is entrusted in our care. We will do all we can to try to spare his life, but of course, that isn't up to us. It is all up to a Higher Power, and it is up to Him alone as to whether the stricken man lives or dies. Yet we will do our best to try to preserve his life, and we will try to gain the upper hand over the Death Angel.
thanks for the dedication--we can do our best, but it is ultimately not up to us. all we can do is pray that God gives us the wisdom to accept His will.
Not if I can help it..I will not have any of my patients that I see today die on me. I will do everything in my power to ensure that they will live.
