Thursday, June 21, 2007

Work today

      
   Well as the sun goes down and the rest of the population gets ready to relax after a long day of work the night workers get ready to go. 

   In the winter it is so strange,  I come home in the dark, go to sleep while the sun is up and am only up to see the sun for an hour or so.  In the summer months the sun is so bright it is hard to get the room dark enough to sleep.  But I do like it. 

    The hospital is quieter at night.  Families have mostly gone home,  most of the help is gone except for the nurses and lab people.  The halls are darkened and still.  Patients finally get some rest. 

   Some patients have bad nights. They spend all day being brave for families and then their fears surface at night.  They have time to think about them.  No TV or doctors visits to distract them.  So we do a lot of sitting at bedsides reassuring patients at night.  Trying to make them comfortable so they get the rest they need.

    Checking on patients at night so as not to disturb them is difficult also.  I have to know how they are doing, but I want them to sleep.  So Croc's are great.  I can walk in an out with my little pen lite and not wake them up.

    Being I work on the heart floor we have the added bonus of having all of our patients on monitors.  We can watch the heart rates at the desk.  Lets us know when the patients are up and about lots of times as the pictures get fuzzy or the heart rate goes up.  Good time to check on them.  They think we are physic the way we know their awake, LOL.

    Also on my floor we are part of the code team.  So if there is a code blue anyplace in the hospital except ER one of us goes.  So the night usually goes by pretty fast.  As long as I sleep good the night before it goes well.  So lets hope it goes well tonight.
                

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope things go well tonight. Checking when the monitor shows something is going on is a good idea. Great pictures. Helen

Anonymous said...

Hope your night goes by swiftly and with little worry. Loved the pic. of the dragonfly. (Hugs) Indigo

Anonymous said...

Bryan my husband had a heart attack a year gone January 6.  I remember the nurses coming in and asking me not to sit on the bed.   No wonder!  They were probably getting my input too.   lol!  I cannot thank those nurses enough for their special care which they gave him.  Especially as I was in the middle of my chemo' and trying to hide my worst symptoms frm him too. They looked after me, 'on the quiet', whilst I visited him.  It is a true vocation being a nurse and there isn't enough praise I can give them for taking up this career.   Have a good day Julie. And know that you are 'SPECIAL!'   Jeanie xxx

Anonymous said...

I hope you know how much all of us appreciate you nurses.  You are angels without which our bodies and most of all our spirits could not mend.  Have a good night, Julie!

Anonymous said...

Hope your evening went well...love the dragonfly...cool pic!
Hugs and love,
Joyce

Anonymous said...

Most people think hospitals just grind to a halt at night! When I worked nights I could vouch for the fact that they didn't. There's always things to do and people want more attention once their visitors go home. Jeannette xx  http://journals.aol.co.uk/jlocorriere05/Welcometomytravels/