Night One in Respiratory

Awful.

The beginning of the night was good. I did all my assessments and was really enjoying the team I was on... and then the bells began.

We had one patient sleep. At all. And she thankfully slept undisturbed through the night.

The other ten patients were on their call bells like nobodies business. It was exhausting! All I did all night was run around answering bells. Requests were usually little things like refilling water, rubbing lotion on someone's legs, looking for something a patient misplaced, or redirecting a confused patient. Which are all fine... unless you have ten people asking you multiple times a night.

Then we also have people who need help to the commode, those who think they don't need help when they really do, and those who use their commode without any bucket to catch their excrement.

Not to mention those who need a Care Aide sitting with them 1:1, but don't so they climb out of bed, over their four side rails and pull out their IV in the process and then are found slumped in a chair.. or worse... on the floor. 

Two 45 minute breaks are not enough to get me through that night unscathed. I think I hardly sat down unless I was on break.

And that was only Team 3... my team. The other teams had wonderful patients who slept through the night. Bah!

Back at it tonight.. with the same patients. Let's hope they didn't sleep all day.