I’m tired. Not exhausted, but tired. It was my second night last night, the first was one of those shifts where remarkably, everything gets done. Apart from a few issues here and there, it went smoothly and was as relaxing a night shift as you could hope for.
Night the second, and we understand how few nurses 2 really are. I arrived to a patient with high blood pressure – and no plan as to what to do about it; then his heart slowed – 40 beats / minute is slow, not incompatible with life slow, but slow – especially for someone in their 80s – he managed to drop as low as 36 at one point. He was joined by the chap with the full-body-and-limb rash, high temperature and vomiting. Lots of vomiting. I had been slightly worried about him since coming on duty – he seemed very drowsy (which wasn’t mentioned in the notes) and looked very hot – although our crappy under-arm/mouth thermometers (what posessed them to take away our in-the-ear ones I’m not sure) weren’t picking up any temperature; and appeared to have a rash covering most of his body – which was also not mentioned in the notes.
Because I’m paranoid I kept an eye on him – and his temperature rapidly went up, followed by the vomiting restarting. By the end of the shift it looked like he’d had another stroke, and despite trying for most of the night I couldn’t reach the next of kin. My opinion of the nurse I worked with last night has gone up immeasurably though. She’s excellent with really sick patients – and it was more due to her efforts that the patient stabilised than the doctor – the Dr was very slow to turn up and then didn’t want to stay because it was the end of his shift. Fine, I can understand, but don’t say you’ll be up in a minute for an hour and a half and then say ‘oh, I can’t see him I’ve got to go home’. Thankfully, quite a lot of pressure on him later, he saw the patient and realised the patient was actually very sick. By which time the senior nurse I was with had done a lot of what he was telling us needed to be done.
I’m really hoping tonight’s a bit quieter. Because it’s only 2 nurses and 2 HCAs on at night – basic patient care disappeared last night. I didn’t get to sit down until 4am when I’d got my sick patients (and the new patient) settled and stable (I started at 8pm), by which time I was fairly much exhausted.
On the plus side I slept a lot when I got home. Well, by a lot, 5 hours. I may even allow myself to use some of the change lying around the house to get me something to eat, because quite frankly I’m a whole heap of tired, and the idea of standing and cooking for 20 minutes appeals to me not-at-all. Whilst I know I can’t afford it, I am just so tired that that isn’t really featuring in my thought process. Especially while there’s change sat on the surface near me.
The one nice thing about nights is the break, during which I’ve been listening to NPR’s Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me which meets my criteria for ‘terribly funny’ – and is I’m sure very irritating for those nearby as I break out into peals of laughter. I’ve also been reading some Jeanette Winterson (specifically the Powerbook) she has an incredible style – it’s kind of like reading poetry in the form of prose (which I think is how Kathryn may have described it to me, but that description sticks with me as I’m reading). So that’s actually been quite good :-)
The Days have also not been so bad – despite my thin thin curtains I’ve actually managed to sleep okay; getting around 5 hours each day, which is pretty good for me. Not enough though, in so far as I’ve got a sore throat. Not a real stinker of a sore throat, but a sore throat none-the-less. Last night I consumed most of a packet of Halls (given that I couldn’t actually stop moving enough to ‘drink plenty’). My glands feel like cashew nuts, seriously, so I’m thinking that I’m really not-that-well. Still, one more night and it’s over.
Also, in the ‘days’ I’ve managed to sort out the builder. He’s still not come up with a complete quote, he wants to come and do the chimney (200 – 300 quid), and while he’s here that day look at the rest of the work that needs doing. This of course means I need to make the door to the lounge shut – and ideally tape a plastic sheet over the space – I also need to get the back door to open, and clear the back office at least partially.
Anyone want to come give me a hand tomorrow, thursday and at the weekend?
I also need to clear some of the kitchen so as I can move the dishwasher and then the washing machine on Monday night. Oh the fun. Building work is such a joy. I should feel more positive I suppose, but I think the tiredness is winning at the moment. I wonder if I need to take down the cupboard as well, probably…
It is incidentally the wall behind the washing machine – the chimney breast – which is coming out:
It’s one of those things which is disproportionally irritating, despite notionally occupying not-that-much kitchen, it’s actually a complete nightmare in terms of layout – and losing it, whilst it will cost a couple of hundred quid makes it that much easier to lay out the kitchen and make effective use of the space. Actually, the excitement has started to come back, looking at that photo, this is the first step in getting the kitchen I want in the house I live in :-)
So, anyway, in the name of entertaining myself I found this video, which is fantastic. And I found this trailer which is for a documentary I’d really like to see – anyone able to wave me a copy from somewhere?
