Today was certainly a doozy (do people still say that!?)! In short, part one: my patient dies. part two: lesbian parents chew me out while breaking the rules. part three: best admission ever!!!
Being true to myself, I cannot just end the day's blog that way....but in a nutshell that really was how my day went! Here's the breakdown for all of you interested in details though!
1.) I was assigned to the patient right next to where I was assigned yesterday....the crash cart was out and the patient looked sick (REALLY sick!). So I kinda pawned him (the sick patient) off to the nurse assigned to the kid I had yesterday so I could take him (my kid from yesterday) back...following!? Anyways, the really sick kid was really sick....so I felt bad for trying to change assignments and ended up in the room all morning anyways. The family was called in and they were amazing. If there is ever a way to prepare yourself for your child dying, this family found a way. This child lived a very hard six years of life and at the end the parents were completely supportive of one another, and the fact that their child was facing the end of life. He passed away, beautifully, peacefully. There are some deaths where a calm just washes over you and this was one of them....the parents wanted it that way...this little one's suffering and trials were now over....he could go dance, and sing, and run around in the fields of heaven!
2.) Next up was my patient (same one as yesterday) who I continued to take care of. His mom's both came in and refused to wear the isolation gowns and gloves we require when kids have certain bugs (ie: MRSA, CDIFF, VRE etc.). They told me (not so nicely, not so calmly) that they were refusing to wear any isolation stuff and that they "put that behind them when they left the NICU." I told them this was not something that they could refuse....to which they replied "Well, you're never getting me in one of those things so you can just put that in your charting!" Alrighty then!
What bugs me most about the whole scenario (b/c really, we have tons of parents that give us a hard time about isolation!) was both mom's have told me several times over the past two days that they are nurses!! HELLO!!! Either 1.) you are lying to me....you really take care of your kid at home and really just consider yourself a nurse....or 2.) you are a nurse and suck at following basic rules put to protect the patient, yourself and all the other patients!! Either way....super frustrating!!
3.) And finally....my super cute admission. He came walking in....yes, welcome to the PICU ladies and gentlemen....walking in asking "Where is the playroom?" He then informs me as I'm hooking him up to our monitors that "That one is to monitor my heart. The heart pumps blood to the entire body. Some of it has oxygen in it because we breath oxygen. And earth is the planet that we live on!" This kid was so witty, so funny, and super cute!! He had a trach in which made his voice slightly hard to understand, but that much cuter!! He then proceeded to say, "I have a joke for you. What do you get when you add Band-Aid plus Sticker?" I told him I have no idea!! He laughed "Band-Aid Sticker...get it??? It's a joke!! I'm so funny!!" Totally didn't get it, but the kid really was funny....and I know my story isn't doing it justice but putting up a video of him would totally violate HIPPA!!
So I left work (on time, go figure!) feeling a little overwhelmed but very fulfilled....I was able to care for each of these patients in such different ways...and each of them gave me something different in return!
I can't wait to dunk in heaven!
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