Nurses

[Gunz]

These last two weeks, especially during the hurricane, and even through horrible pain, I was honored and privileged to witness first hand a team of amazing young men and women...the nurses at James A. Haley VA Medical center.

Friday night just before Irma hit, these folks got slammed with bus loads of evacuated patients from Bay Pines VA, which is right on the water. Some of these patients were homeless people, some were belligerent, argumentative, downright uncooperative and a few were clearly deranged. And in spite of this sudden influx, over the next few days these nurses, dead on their feet, working long shifts, sleeping on the floor in their break rooms or wherever they could find a space, kept up their nonstop pace and never fucking lost their cool. They came to each other's need, time and again, some ran from room to room helping wherever needed.

And even though they were understaffed, I never felt my needs were being neglected.

Amazing people.

Dealing with so much stress and more than a few total asshole patients. Many of them were former Army and AF Medics and one or two Corpsman, but even those with no military background were just as competent and professional.

Well done, Tampa VA nursing staff at 4 South.

Ps. I could never be a nurse. I'd be euthanizing all the assholes. And fucking posers.

 

[Red Flag 1]

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[SpitfireV]

Euthenizing and fucking posers eh.

 

[Red Flag 1]

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[Muppet]

Nurses rock...

M.

 

[Devildoc]

Ahhh...nursing. Where to start?

To quote that classic Dickens tome, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us".

I have had harder jobs, but I don't know if I have had a more stressful job. And the stress isn't the patient care; that's the easy part. Navigating the unit politics; navigating hospital politics; constant classes and updates and CE; managing unrealistic expectations of the organization; knee-jerking to the latest federal guideline or requirement....

But I have loved every minute of it, ESPECIALLY the patient care.....

 

[TLDR20]

Nursing can be very fun and very terrible, I. The same hour. In just the last week I have stared down my ICU attending while I gave extra sedation against his wishes to a patient being given shocks, watched a multidisciplinary team save a mans life who had no business living(due to his complex medical state), and cleaned up an incontinent patient only to have them immediately soil themselves. Some of those were good times and some were bad. I'm in a pretty intense(probably most intense) unit in my hospital, so the personalities of the women I work with is certainly an issue, sometimes good, most of the time bad. They are hot though.

 

[Grunt]

Nurses make or break your stay at a hospital. It's a calling an not simply and occupation. I salute all of you in that field as the truth of the matter is -- many, if not most people, will never fully know what you do on a daily basis.

 

[Muppet]

All of this. In addition, I have, and continue to have the honor of knowing and working beside some of the best ER RNs in my AO. They do not get the credit they deserve. Years ago, I contemplated going paramedic to nurse bridge program. But, I cannot see myself dealing with some jerk off for 5 hours in the ER, also jugling a 4 patient load. I can't deal 20 mins with some patients. Add, impossible docs, JACHO nonsense, asshole nurse managers. Cheers to you nurses....

M.