Work

This week in work has been stressful. Probably the most stressful week I have ever had in this job. Tuesday I found myself in a vulnerable position with a very aggravated patient. As I backed out of his room he pushed his door hard against me and hurt my arm as I held it up to protect my face. Nursing is a hard job but we shouldn't have to feel physically threatened. It would be easy to refuse to treat this patient but there are only two Registered Nurses on duty on each shift. If I refuse to treat him all I am doing is forcing my colleague to be his nurse. How would I feel if the tables were turned and they placed me in a vulnerable position to protect themselves? I filled out an incident report which goes on file. I guess if enough reports get filled out it puts the hospital in a stronger position to refuse to readmit him in the future. The nurse on the shift after me got hit in the face by him. If I hadn't filled in my report I would have felt awful that his behaviour had gone unreported. 

I dreaded going in to work today. I tried to keep a physical distance between myself and this patient but nursing is a hands on job and there were times I was helping to dress him and helping him in and out of bed and I was so scared being in arms reach of him. What can you do? I left work frazzled and tired and anxious to get home. I rang my sister from the car park and told her put the kettle on for me. I was irritated that I had had to work on a little bit late. Only ten minutes but ten minutes I would have rather had at home, especially given the week I had had. 

As I neared home the car in front braked sharp and pulled in to the kerb. Ahead was a smashed up car in the middle of the road. People were running towards it. The man in the car in front jumped out of his car and ran too. But not towards the first car. He had spotted a second car and it was way off the road in the bush with its bonnet crumpled around a tree. I pulled in behind him and looked at the two cars. I could see two people get out of the first car and plenty of people around them so I followed the man into the scrub. 

It was uneven and I ran with my feet catching in the long grass. Part of my brain was registering that I was running to an unknown. Putting myself at risk when I had three kids waiting at home for me. But the most part of me needed to know who was in the car. I was wearing my nurses uniform. I was representing my hospital, my profession. It was an older lady in the car. She was virtually untouched. After a check over and lots of questions I helped her out of her car and we made our way back to the road. I left her with more people who had stopped to help and ran on to the first car. The two young men in it were shaken and bruised but again not badly hurt. 

Two ambulances, two fire trucks and a police car turned up to help and about an hour later I was free to get back in my car and go home. 

It was a day of extremes. 

A day that began with me questioning why I was a nurse and ending with the answer...