I spent Sunday night in the ICU at Legacy Good Samaritan.
No, I was not hurt. I was there to job shadow a friend of Donavan’s, to see what nursing really entails. When Rick came to fetch me from the main lobby, he explained that first there was to be a report, and then I could follow him or he could send me to see the interesting cases. I asked if it would be alright to wander and meet everybody, and he said yes.
We changed into plain blue scrubs and walked the short distance to the conference room where 20 other nurses were gathering. I was interested to see several men there, but Rick later explained that the ER and ICU are the two places where male nurses are most likely to be found when working in a hospital at all. Report consists of double-checking which nurse is assigned to which bed, and the current status of each patient. It was like roll-call in school, people paid close attention when their patient was discussed and were otherwise unconcerned.
After report, each nurse went to their station to do a bedside check-in with whomever they were relieving and Rick sent me with Bruce. Bruce checked his patient’s charts and explained to me his condition and why he was in the ICU. Then he helped Blythe, a Respiratory Therapist, put a bite guard on his patient’s air tube. Blythe explained that sometimes when people wake up they get angry and bite through their air tube, which means they become unable to breathe and pass out.
Then I went to go see Mary, who was helping Cecilia wash one of her patient’s back. I had realized that not all of nursing was exciting crisis moments, and in fact I was told several times that nurses spend lots of time just filling out charts or answering when their patient’s call for them. Everybody seemed to have no end of patience when it came to the people they were caring for, but very little patience for people who might harm their charges.
I learned a lot and was grateful to have met the nurses who work at Good Sam’s ICU. Just so this post won’t be without any knitting content whatsoever - The Good Sam ICU is having their 3rd annual Winter Warmth drive for hats and scarves which are distributed throughout the holidays by charities which take food to those who need it. If you bring hats and scarves into the shop, we’ll pack them up and deliver them to the folks at the ICU ourselves. Thanks everybody, and have a Happy Thanksgiving.
