I noticed that Reva looked more wan, more haggard, than usual.  Her hair lacked the usual luster, there were twin purple circles surrounding her eyes, and she was very pale in color.  She tended to blow off our comments by saying that she felt okay. 

We weren't so sure.

Another co-worker looked like her usual self, but we knew something was going on because she wasn't in her usual chipper, jovial mood.  She barely muttered an audible hello whenever we greeted her.

We were wondering if the recent flooding disaster Nashville experienced had anything to do with Reva's malaise or with Carmelita's sullenness.  We don't know if they lost anything (or anyone) in the flood; we dared not ask.  All I could do was try to show my support to them and ask my fellow nursing co-workers to do the same.

Louisiana Sandusky, our head nurse on the day shift, noticed these changes too.  She became very concerned.  She asked to talk with them later, but if I knew Carmelita or Reva, they would probably write it off, and tell our boss that everything was fine, that there was nothing to worry about.

Or maybe it was due to the little bug that was running rampant around the hospital.  Several doctors and nurses (as well as other staff members) called in sick with malaise, low-grade fever, chills alternating with feeling hot all over, coughing, and sore throats.  I made a mental note to myself to remind Carmelita and Reva to be looked at in the Emergency Room (knowing full well that they would both probably refuse my offer).

Because of the staff members that were sick, there was a rather significant shortage of nurses and doctors.  Those who did show up (including myself) were pulling double shifts, at least several a week, to make up for the slack the shortage in staff caused.  We were all feeling cranky, exhausted, and fed up with how things were going.

The Emergency Room was piled full with people who were sick or injured; there wasn't nearly enough staff to cover the influx of patients waiting for treatment.  Over thirty new admits had been charted and sent to their respective rooms, and on top of all that, there'd been a plane crash earlier in the day at one of our city's smaller airports, thus adding even more chaos to the fray.

It's no wonder people like Reva and Carmelita were feeling so poorly; we all were.  We were overworked, cross with each other (and with patients, though we tried to act as professional as possible), and frustrated at the neverending surge of suffering and pain that came through our hospital doors.

*to be continued.*