Talking about nurses getting pinned and their hats got Allie to thinking about her first forays into nursing. She posted this story as a comment
"Allie said:
Clinical rotations were stressful to say the least. We did our Peds rotation at St. Mary's pediatric burn unit. We were given some idea of what to expect from Sister Jo, but nothing could've prepared a young student nurse for the sounds and smells of the unit.
First day, we walked onto the unit during the debreding time, the kids were put in tubs of water, after their dressings were removed , to soften up the dead skin so it could be removed. The screams alone, that emanated from those debreding rooms was enough to send a student running from the unit.
We were assigned one child to provide care for each day while we were there, with supervision by the unit nurse and occasionally by our instructor when she wasn't stealing food off the kid's trays.
My first patient was an 18 month old boy with 2nd and 3rd degree burns over 90 percent of his body. He was found on fire in a crib with both rails up, the parent was suspected , but wasn't yet charged and actually had supervised visiting privileges with the baby.I had assisted the nurse with debreding and the application of the silver nitrate ointment and fresh dressings, he finally conked out from pain and agony of the debreding , despite having been medicated before the procedure.His nurse must've trusted me enough to leave me alone in his room to hold him, he hated the crib and wouldnt stay there ,he would wake up from a dead sleep screaming when in the crib, no wonder.
As I sat in the rocker holding him, he was breathing gently, he looked angelic despite head to toe bandages, I wanted to kiss his sweet face, but found no spot that wasn't covered with gauze or ointment.He stopped breathing as he was in my arms, I ran out to the nurses station with him still in my arms, he was quickly taken and resuscitation was attempted, to no avail. I was almost hysterical and wanted to quit nursing school , it took all I had as a young woman of 22 to step foot on that unit the next day.
Sorry , not an uplifting or funny story today, but there are plenty of those too, coming."
It takes a special type of person to have the compassion and love and the dedication to keep going to work after an experience like that. Imagine the pain that poor baby went through? It is beyond belief. I really respect the work that nurses do. They do the real dirty work of taking care of the patients. The doctors get the glory and the nurses get the work.
Your patients were very lucky.
Even if you are a dirty commie!
25 comments:
Now now, Troop, be nice. My life has depended upon the kindness of nurses and even in a, shall we say, highly medicated state, never did I ask any nurse about politics. I am thankful that they are there to serve, and with very few exceptions, they have been excellent.
There was one food service b*tch who better watch her back, however, but that's a story for another day.
Oh I think Allie was a great nurse and can be described as heroic when she had to deal with stuff like a kid that died in her arms.
But you got to keep them on their toes. Just sayn'
Oh, Allie. :( Thankful that there are people who are called to do these jobs because I know they do take their toll on your heart.
Hugs.
We can't get too smaltzy.
The hell we can't!
Whoa.
Experiences like mine are not unusual, it may happen to a nurse in the beginning of her career or down the road a bit further, but death and dying of those who sould be alive and healthy happens all too often.
It shakes you to the core and depending on how you proceed in your career or life , you can either honor that life or disrespect it by becoming hardened and callous. It's essential that a nurse or caregiver of any type remain a human capable of empathy.
Damn, these pinkos are strong, and brave.
I couldn't do that s***.
Kudos Commie.
Great story, Allie!
And thanks for frontpaging it, Troop!
Allie said...
It's essential that a nurse or caregiver of any type remain a human capable of empathy.
That's why Allie will not laugh out loud at your tiny penis.
Well at least not to your face. Just sayn'
What?
We want more clutter on this blog.
Get hopping bucko!
There you go with that psyclone business again.
I would feel much empathy Trooper :)
Nurses are real-life heroes. A friend's wife was a nurse. He would come home and complain about his day, because the copier jammed. When he asked his wife how her day went, she might something like, "Well, Mr. Smith died." A little perspective goes a long way. She couldn't do it after a few years. Became a nurse at a factory, where she handed out aspirin and band-aids. The emotional toll is beyond my scope of experience, and I'm appreciative of people like Allie who somehow find a way to refill that reservoir every day.
I hate to admit it, but we do need a few dirty commie hippies in society. They're the ones who will run into traffic to rescue an animal that has been hit and is suffering. I just aim for the head to make a quick end of its misery.
I'm a very compassionate guy.
Are we missing a "Stop staring at my tits" tag for that photo?
Yeah I know. She is very impressive.
But hopefully not easily beeindruckt.
I suffered a gun shot wound when I was in Viet Nam. I was sent to a hospital in Japan, where I underwent an operation on the leg wound that went terribly bad. I ended up with a staphylococus infection about 3 days later. Every day I had to have the wound scrubbed. That included the bone and the hole in the bone. No anesthesia. The best way to handle the pain, was to bite down on a towel and to reach back with both my hands and hold onto the head board posts. After about 10 days, I was able to scrub it myself.
Hard to imagine the terror a child would have to go through dealing with pain. God bless you, Allie.
One time I underwent some serious surgery. I arrived at the hospital at 4:30 on a Tuesday morning, started undergoing prep. A series of humorous misadventures ensued, then the anesthesiologists started their job. After discussing why they were putting the various needles and whatnot where they were, next thing I know I was waking up over 24 hours later in the CICU.
The first thing I saw was two brunette nurses leaning over me, telling me to wake up so that they could remove my tracheal tube. That accomplished I asked if I had died and gone to heaven, as they were the most beautiful women I had ever seen. I must not have been speaking too clearly, or maybe they hear that all the time, as they ignored my comment and proceeded to make me stand up beside the bed - part of rehab, I was told.
Anyway, I never did find out who they were - I still would like to thank them for what they did - I appreciated it then and still do, to this day. I was able to make a nice present for my surgeon, but the nurses, being more anonymous, have received nothing from me. More's the pity.
I received a really nice present once from an elderly couple, I had to get permission to accept it though. I worked in a retirement community at the time that had an attached nursing home and senior apartments.
I was called to the apartment by the security guards, to assess the husband. He was in severe pain, right upper quadrant, belly was hard and hot, reminded me of another patient that I had cared for with a strangulated gallbladder.
I called 911 and had some incredibly handsome sexy paramedics come and take the poor old gent to the ER. sure enough strangulated gallbladder, emergency surgery, rehab and the sweet old guy was back with his wife.
I had admired and old drop leaf table in their living room as I sat with the wife trying to distract her, while the paramedics were with her husband, they wanted to give me the table as a thankyou.
Actually did get permission to accept the gift , I love that table.
Oh yes, I did get that 1945 USS General Langfitt bulliten from that adorable old Veteran. Another precious gift.
Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.
my good friend AllenS always reduces the issue to the very basic level of truth--its a talent, AllenS--never lose it
Allie--very touching experience--thanks for sharing it
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