Work, work, work.

[gateslacker]

I have to write a quick apology to any who have e-mailed or responded to an LJ entry that I haven't replied to. I am a bit overworked this week (and last) but that's okay. For purely personal reasons, I like being overworked during the Valentine's Day hubbub.

All last week I had a premonition that one of the LPNs was going to quit and I would have to work Sunday. Wouldn't you know that she decided to do so at 1:00 (for a 2:30 shift!!!) I swear some people have no work ethic or even common decency whatsoever but I suppose that is beside the point. So, I had to work the 3-11 shift that night knowing that I would have to be back up at 5am for the replenish-the-savings-acct stint at Trinity on Monday. I managed. Of course, I worked the ER since the other RN that was there that day "was never oriented in the ER". Boy, she wasn't kidding! I'll think twice before ever agreeing to work when I know she is on! Can we say NO BACKUP!!! It was a crazy day, as usual, and when I had a person screech into the parking lot and pull up to the back door, I knew there was gonna be some drama. Of course, when someone runs in and says "He's having a heart attack" you never know what you are going to find so I called for some backup before I ever went out to the car. Luckily, this person wasn't slumped over or anything but hey, you never know. (aside to anyone who cares...if you are having chest pain and think you might be having a heart attack, do us all a really big favor and call 911! It is a huge problem to get someone who is in cardiac arrest out of the front seat and onto a stretcher AND initiate CPR while pushing said stretcher.) Well, I get the guy on the stretcher in the ER and on the monitor before anyone ever deigns to grace my presence and who should it be but the aforementioned Charge nurse. I say to her, "I need some sublingual nitro." She says, "I don't know where that is. I have never been oriented back here." I give her a blank stare cause I am completely bamboozled as to why they let this person charge if she doesn't know where anything is. Trinity isn't a large hospital. There is usually only one nurse in the ER but it is often necessary for nurses from the floor to come and help during an MI, code, or trauma and vice versa should something happen on the floor. She and I are the only two RN's working the floor! She says. "I'll get another nurse." I say, "Yes, please do." Fortunately for me, all the surgery crew hadn't left for the day. It gets better. It seems that this nurse doesn't even know how to attach monitor leads or do an EKG?! I am aghast as, although she obviously doesn't work the ER, we do have telemetry beds on the floor and, I'm guessing here, a person who can't even hook the things up more than likely is unable to read a strip!!!! No wonder one of the docs said "It's a good thing you are back here today". And I thought he was just being nice!!!

Oh, and

ruralstar ,
Bloated!!? Are you crazy? You know them's fighting words, don't cha?? Don't you be trying to put a damper on my THUNK ;-)