Chronicles of a Night Nurse

Okay, I am not an official full time night nurse, but I still am one. I work 11-7:30 (if I am lucky) 2 times a month. As a nurse, I have to either work so many hours as well as get continuing education, or not work and get substantially more continuing education. I decided, obviously, to at least try to get a small job to keep it up since getting continuing education can be difficult.

When I went to look for a small job, the least hours I could find was 24 hours a week. Um, no, that is too much! When I saw the posting for a 11-7:30 position only requiring 8 hours every 2 weeks, I jumped on it! The only thing was, it was in adult psych. Okay, I was not a fan of my psych rotation in nursing school. I was scared and felt like I was a fish out of water. However, I had worked in pediatric psych a little bit and now had a little experience (although nearly not on the same scale) and I knew I would not find hours like this job! So, I decided to try it.

I started in March and had been on orientation every since. I was working independently, more or less, but could not be taken off orientation because I had never had an admission, had not put in many orders, dealt with the phone calls, Drs, etc, associated with admissions.

My shift on the 4th of July changed everything. I arrived to the unit at 10:45 to 2 patients. Quiet night? Not hardly! They had cancelled the other nurse, not knowing I had not had admissions, and we were expecting 2 admissions, one waiting for me to clock in to admit. Awesome!

I got through the first 2 admissions, with a RN staying along with the tech that was already staffed, and one more RN called in to help, now awaiting 2 more admissions. Seriously, when it rains, it pours! The next patient was taken by the other nurse while I tried to finish up the orders, charting on the first patient. While the RN was admitting patient #3, patient #4 was brought in. He was reported to be manic with some auditory hallucinations. Okay, this ought to be interesting. As I took the intake, he was saying things that really scared me, and his eyes! My intake, that should take at least a half hour, took me 10 minutes! It was a long 10 minutes in a room by myself.

After the intake, the patient got rather scary, causing me to ask for help from the tech, RN, and security. This was about 6:30 am. At 9:30, we were ready to transfer the patient to a psych ICU (which the unit I work at is not and we can not take violent patients, which this patient clearly demonstrated he was. Charting, paperwork, conversations with the Drs, medications, and the patient was out the door and transferred by 11:30am! Yes, I was still at work! The patient was much happier and going to a much safer place for his condition and state of mind. I finished up and fought my way out of the unit just before noon. I was exhausted.

Meanwhile, I had taken the cell accidentally, leaving Chris at home with the kids without a phone. I had taken the van, too, because Chris' motorcycle was parked behind the car, leaving Chris with only the Camry. He had no clue where I was. He emailed his Dad who did not email back immediately (come on, the man has a life!). So, Chris drove to my work and called the Unit. Okay, typically I can access email and email him. However, I was so busy with this 1:1 patient, I really did not have an opportunity. Needless to say, Topher was not happy having worried about me most of the morning.

I arrived home after noon (when I had always gotten home around 8am) to 3 tired kiddos and a very unhappy and somewhat aggitated husband. Now you know why nurses can not stand it when teachers and school administration complain that they do not get more time off during the summers/holidays, etc. Come on! Work overnights, weekends, Holidays, summers, 12 hour shifts and get paid substantially less, and then you can complain!

Oh, the life of a night nurse. Gotta love it! At least I can say I made a difference, I think.

P.S. The RNs, Techs, and the Dr on call had never experienced a patient like the one I admitted. He was like night and day in seconds, which is obviously common in these patients but this was extreme. The other staff, Dr, had never had to call all the security up to the unit. Typically, this patient would present this way or have a history preventing an admission to the unit I work on. However, he presented calm but scary and then exploided. Topher and I are always saying, it is us! Crazy stuff only happens to us. This is just another example of it. Makes life interesting I guess.

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