Ahhh...

If you are looking for excitement and adventure... go Google something!  This post is boring.

Last night started out, with me oversleeping.  Was an hour late to work.  My bad, no excuse.  Regardless of the reasons, it occurred, was handled, and everything worked out.

My shift was busy, to say the least.  Yet in a strange way, it seemed relaxed.  Nothing critical, as in life threatening.  Had a few interesting presentations, definitely intervened and affected a few patients in a very meaningful way.

I thought about my patient the other night who ended up signing out AMA.

That was a difficult scenario.  They were brought to the ED for a reason, while there, was witnessed and documented to have a definite problem, that explained the initial presentation.  An enormous amount of resources were garnered together and prepared for battle!  Yet they recovered, were stable for the rest of their visit, and eventually wanted to leave.

As a Nurse, there are times that one has to become firm and somewhat aggressive with patients, who seem to not understand or have the ability to comprehend the situation.  So, when this patient told me they wanted to leave,  I responded to them that they were clinically dead, that I was just about to start CPR, that although I have 3 other patients, they are my number one focus and have my undivided attention at the moment, and that if they leave, there is a high probability that they will die.

The patient responded to me, "I do not want to take up your time, please, go take care of your other patients."

I was actually speechless for a moment.

Then they mentioned that they were hungry, and asked if they could have something to eat.  Now, in a presentation like this, it is an automatic NPO... nothing by mouth... Cardiac Cath, Pacemaker insertion, etc... all surgical interventions.

In the few seconds it took me to process the request... I said OK.  Went and got a sandwich, juice, and some chips usually reserved for our diabetic patients.  My thinking...

This patient already almost died once, maybe even twice.  I was not going to deny them a meal if they are hungry.