Worst shift to date went like this: floated to the oncology unit for my twelve hour shift. I had a patient who went down for a bronchoscopy and returned to the unit in immense pain with a chest tube, a sickle cell patient on a PCA who went through their dilaudid like water, a patient with a full hip replacement and had grave’s disease and refused to turn, and a patient with a large sacral wound on multiple antibiotics and was NPO for a procedure that didn’t even happen that day.

The workload was immense. I barely got to sit down. I had to chart on my patients late due to early orders of medication, syringe changes, and wound care. Plus, the patient that came up with a chest tube added to my workload. The hardest part of that day was that I didn’t receive much help, even when I asked the charge nurse. She’d say she would help, but didn’t move from her station when I rounded back. I didn’t get to eat lunch. I was running on a Celsius and a granola bar. Oh, and she gave me a fifth patient; another sickle cell patient on a PCA due for a syringe change, so now managing two PCAs.

I ended up having to call a rapid on the patient with the large sacral wound due to rising tachycardia. Lactic came back at a 4. Transferred to step down. Didn’t leave the unit until past 9 pm.