There was a Senator a bit ago who mentioned most nurses may be playing' cards while on duty. This was quoted some what... month or so ago from this writing? Since then many healthcare workers have spoken up concerning this, but that too has seemed to have died down...
We never play cards at work... but some times we take walks...
RK was a mountain of a man. He stood nearly seven feet tall and every time he was admitted (which sadly, was often) we ordered the big and tall bed for him. RK had a failing heart. He had to come every 5 or so days and get an infusion of stuff for cardiac support for a couple days and then go home. He was a pastry chef in another life. His specialty was pies. What he hated was laying in a bed while the drip did its thing-- it was boring and he was not used to being still.
I had him as a patient so often, I had his health history memorized and could finish his intake in record time. One night, as the night shift droned in its steady pace, RK pleaded to me to let him take a walk. He couldn't rest, could sleep, and damned well couldn't stay in bed another minute. He had asked other nurses from other shifts, but no-one would let him.
Then I came on one night...
I asked him to stand
He did.
"You dizzy?"
He said he wasn't and I believed him.
"You got any palps?"
He said he didn't and the cardiac monitor proved he wasn't.
His blood pressure was 70's over something- his normal for the two years I had known him. He was the only seven foot tall man with a shitty bottom pressure I've ever seen walk with that kind of pressure and not try to dent the floor with his face.
I unplugged his IV pump (it had a built in battery ) and told home to follow me.
We lapped the hall 20 times at a slow steady pace. He never complained of being short of breath, never had palpitations, never got dizzy. We talked about life. We talked about the transplant that would probably never come (and truthfully, never did). We talked about our kids ( his youngest daughter had just graduated high school-my oldest not for another year), We talked about the little shit friends talk about. I noted he beamed and stood what had to be impossibly taller as our walk went on.
After our 20 laps, I finally relented- I had other patients that needed to be looked in on. He thanked me for the best night he's had in the hospital. I look in on him as the night went on. He seemed relaxed and well...happy for a change. He told me the next night that it was the best sleep he's had for ages.
He was discharged two days later. The night after that, I received a box at the unit desk. It was the tallest peach pie I had ever seen. It was from RK, thanking me for the walk. I carved into it later that shift and shared it with my coworkers. It was the best pie I had ever tasted.
RK was in and out of the hospital frequently for the next two years. He always brought pie. We always took small walks. We always shot the shit like old friends, meeting at the bar for a few cold beers and bullshitting around. It was one of the few times a patient had told me how much a difference I had made.
A small gesture.
A big difference.
And not a fucking card in site.
Road Music: Be Gone Dull Cage- Kiev
Who's Behind the Door- Zebra
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