Visits with bigwigs

Today was one of those two day visits. In theory, everything is clean and shiny, but it wasn't. The big shots got in before the housekeepers started mopping up the big dried coffee stain in the lobby.

I was fortunate to stumble upon the visitors as I was leaving my office to go to the restroom down the hall. Since I am well acquainted with one of them, I escorted them to the meeting room. They were thrilled with the coffee and pastries.

As luck would have it, I was scheduled in not one but three meetings. Since they ran over, I excused myself from the second one, so I could escape and do some work. Since the Slug needed someone to impress and was being a total toad, it was really for his/her own safety (and the safety of my license) that I left.

When I went back to my desk, I kept making phone calls. I called several patients and checked on orders for equipment. It was fun to get away.

Finally, the visitors had had enough in the last meeting and we finished by 5PM, over an hour past my usual. I was so glad to go home.

More excitement is coming...stay tuned.

Ironies, part two

First, you second-guess if you did the right thing for the patient that died. Did I miss some signs they had or were there so many problems which could mask another, that I couldn't keep them straight? You find out that you weren't the only nurse to wonder...and maybe the MDs are pissed because they couldn't see any signs, either.

Next, your boss calls you up to ask what the acronym SCD stands for. Lucky me, I got to answer the phone. And no, I didn't even look it up first.

After trivia, you get the assignment to take your patient to an appointment and are looked at as a rare oddity--an RN as escort. Your boss could have told you this yesterday when you asked who was going for one of the other staff, but no, the boss wanted to save that for you. What's more fun than rushing around gathering things for your trip at the very last minute?

Of course, accompanying this patient was a little like going as a star's attendant. Everyone there (I'm not kidding) knew his name. You'd swear I was with Norm from Cheers.

Finally, the weather was beautiful and I was trapped inside for a while, so I took the earliest opportunity to walk two blocks just to enjoy it....and all the ironies of the day.