Charge of the Light Brigade

I got a lot of requests when I was on rounds as the charge nurse recently. Lots of emergency calls on the call light: "Could someone come over here and turn off these lights?" Yes, even the charge nurse runs around turning off lights when all the fun stuff comes on TV. It's only an emergency if it puts a glare on your TV.

The charge nurse brigade just got some new tasks since the boss is away training. The evening charges get to make the assignment, because the daytime charges (doing boss's job while he/she is away) refuse to do it. "I don't want people mad at me!" said Daytime Charge Nurses. I'm having flashbacks to Saintarama. Fortunately, I didn't have anyone changing it when I wasn't looking, as happened there.

I did have one very passive-aggressive 12 hour person, who I'll call D (for Diva) who wasn't too excited with  her assignment. I gave D, a nurse assistant, the same assignment as the night before (plus one person) and she stood around for the first hour of the shift in our patient lounge, far in the back, kvetching away with one of the nurses. Perhaps she  was perturbed that she didn't get a light assignment, since she thought she deserved one. The other nurse she talked to had a lighter assignment than D because she can pass meds, which D cannot. Everyone else had 3-4 people (one of my better nurses had 5 until a 12 hour person came in to pick up part of the assignment) and so did D. Somehow, I don't see how that's so tragic. No one else complained.

To top it all, one of her patients, Mr. X., who was pretty much self-care, said she only came in the room once during the four hours she was supposed to be taking care of him. Thankfully, one of my other nurse assistants (who had a patient  in the same room) saved the day by helping Mr. X out. Since Mr. X. was a new admit, his new nurse (D's replacement) and I straightened the rest of his paperwork out by the end of the shift.

Despite everything, we did have a good shift. K. the charge on the night shift came in early and ran a very special errand. She got goodies so the night shift could celebrate with Mr. A. on the morning of his birthday. Mr. A. has been on our unit for nearly a year. The night crew all went to his room and sang Happy Birthday when the breakfast trays showed up. His nurse on evenings bought him a present he'll really enjoy: Milky Way minis.

All in all, between drama and sugar in all forms, it wasn't a bad night.Stay tuned. More to come...