Ever had one of those days? You know what I mean. I’m talking about one of those days where if something is going to go wrong it will, and if irony was a person she would definitely be your evil stepmother. It seems to happen frequently in nursing. Maybe it’s the uncertain environment coupled with the volatile emotions of the sick. Sprinkle in ever-changing technology with some unexpected medication side effects and you may find yourself in the middle of a feces storm kind of day. You know, like when it hits the fan.
The thing is in the world of nursing when it rains it doesn’t just pour. Nope. Rather it comes a flood. A torrential downpour of acid rain and hail shoot down cruelly pelting you on the head as you run away with your hands over your noggin screaming, “I give up!”
When one rock falls a whole avalanche starts, and it’s always in the back of your mind, I’m not gonna get out of here, am I?
It starts innocent, but annoyingly enough.
You’ll lose IV access on your patient, and they will suddenly develop projectile vomiting and excruciating pain.
If you’re working with one patient, another will need you desperately. Right at the exact moment you cannot step away.
When you forget to put on the bed alarm your patient will fall out of bed.
When you really need a medication it won’t be available.
When one IV pump beeps, they’ll all beep.
When you’re on the phone with a doctor your patient will put on their call light.
When you’re wearing soiled gloves your face will itch. Like the worst itch ever.
The one time you forget to put slip resistant socks on your patient they will fall.
When your new patient is experiencing shortness of breath the bed will malfunction where you can’t raise the head.
When you’re in the biggest hurry to document your computer will freeze.
When you’re ready to go to lunch everything will go down. Chest pain, diarrhea, critical lab values. You name it.
When you don’t obtain a good history during report or don’t have time to look it up, a doctor will definitely ask a question you do not know the answer to. You’ll look incompetent. There will be much gnashing of teeth.
All your physicians will round simultaneously, and typically when your bladder is about to explode.
When you really need supplies they won’t be readily available, and when you go to retrieve them they will have been moved. Or your fingerprint verification won’t work. Or your patient’s name won’t be easily locatable to charge them for the supplies.
If your two assist patient needs to go pee immediately all the other staff will be busy. The poor patient will accidentally soil the sheets that were just changed, and most likely the dressing that was just changed too. (If you haven’t given a full bath yet none of the above will probably happen).
If you get behind on charting a natural disaster will probably occur that puts you even further behind.
When you’re thinking of taking a break a family member of your patient will call with many, many questions.
A disgruntled patient will desire to leave against medical advice. You’ll curse the documentation requirements under your breath.
And really none of these things are too terrible in themselves, but they never happen singularly. It always happens all at once.
Another critical lab value will pop up.
Then it will be time to check a blood sugar again.
Then your patient will go into respiratory distress.
Then when you try and look up the physician’s number your computer will freeze again.
Someone will definitely call out with 10/10 pain.
It’s even possible your other patient will code during all this.
When you get behind on one thing, everything else follows suit, and in medicine that’s just not feasible. You can’t just say, “Oops. I got distracted and behind. Sorry your mom died while I was eating lunch. We cool?”
Hey, I’m sure a lot of jobs suffer under the black cloud of Murphy’s Law, but something about dancing in the rain of the raging storm of healthcare is a whole different beast. What would normally be considered simply an inconvenience becomes much more serious when life hangs in the balance. Falling behind becomes stressful when you realize fatal mistakes could occur. Not having all your ducks in a row can set you on edge when order goes hand in hand with better outcomes overall.
That’s why we’re tired at the end of the day. That’s why our brains ache as much as our feet. That’s why stress levels soar and burnout happens. A bad day at the bedside isn’t like just any bad day. It’s multiplied times 50. In life it typically can be said that when it rains it pours, but in nursing it’s so much more that just that.