Oh, you do that?

http://insideout.wbur.org/documentaries/nursingshortage/whyistay.asp

The link is a story about a veteran ICU nurse talking about one of her busy assignments for the day. I read it and thought "That sounds like almost every day in our ICU." Minus the fact that instead of women, we have mostly males, and they are not usually in their 30s.

I wanted to repost it because I feel like if you do not work in our unit, or even if you are not a nurse, you really have no idea of what we go through. For example, a couple of weeks ago I came home from work to find my sister-in-law, her husband, and their 3 kids all playing video games in the living room. The house, for the most part, was pretty tidy. I was relieved that I didn't have to clean up after them. I was exhausted after a long 12 hour shift, most of it stuck in a respiratory isolation room in which I had to wear a special mask . They asked why I looked so tired and so horrible (gee thanks). Maybe because my CO2 was up and I was going to pass out soon? So I explain to them about my day. And the response I get?

Oh, you do that?

Um yes, I take care of 1-2 patients, many of which are on ventilators, with lines and tubes coming out from everywhere, that are on a shit ton of medications to keep them sedated, to keep their blood pressures up or down, to get their glucose levels within an acceptable range, to make them pee...etc etc etc.

My favorite is when people assume I just wipe ass all day. Nope. I do so much more than that.

I just wish more people would take the time to really know what we do so maybe they would have a better appreciation for what we do. So that's why I reposted that link. Maybe someone will read it and have a little insight into just what we go through.

</end rant>