Night Shifts

It was my fourth night shift in a row and I was tired to say the least. In my weary state I asked God for the strength to get through another night. I had 9 patients in the VVF Ward (the ward for women who have had traumatic pregnancies and now are leaking urine and sometimes stool) and 1 patient in the ICU, actually a friend and crew member who had broken his leg in a soccer match and was waiting for surgery. I was also responsible for 2 patients in a ward down the hall who were from Sierra Leone and would be leaving in the early hours of the morning. At the beginning of the shift I was honored, I guess, with being given the role of charge nurse. I was not given then charge nurse role because my nursing skills are amazing, but because out of all the nurses working that night, I had been with Mercy Ships longest. I felt the stress level rising inside of me. I prayed God would help me to have a positive attitude and strength for the busy night ahead. With shift report over, I headed to see my VVF patients first. That is where the marathon of a night started. It was one thing after another. There were two of us responsible for 18 VVF patients. One of our patients started bleeding, she was three days post-surgery and she should not have been bleeding as much as she was. The doctor had encouraged us to continue monitoring the bleeding and start and IV and check the patient's hemoglobin if we were concerned. We were really getting concerned. The patient's blood pressure was dropping and more blood was coming. As charge nurse, I was responsible for paging the doctor. Of course the pager system would not work. When we finally reached the doctor, he came and assessed the patient. We were told to continue monitoring the bleeding. We were very concerned, but kept checking the patient. In the mean time, my blessed patients, could not understand that I was very busy with an emergency and they kept yelling my name across the ward. One patient wanted lip gloss, another wanted a surgical cap to cover her braids, while another needed some cream (lotion for her skin). I love getting small things like this for my patients, but I was starting to become really frustrated because I could not get everything done when my patients wanted it done. Then I get mad at myself for feeling frustrated because I want to be able to do everything for my patients when they want it, but that is just not possible. My emotions were starting to churn and my exhausted state was hitting an all time max. I was trying to keep my focus, but having difficulty. At this point in the evening, I needed to page the lab technician to come to the lab. Again, the paging system was broken. Uggg, after extra effort, the lab tech was contacted and came to the ward. More patients yelling, "Lada, come!" They try to say "Laura," but it sounds more like "Lada or Laywer." In my hospital at home, most patients have private rooms and the nurse is not in their view all the time, but not here, all our patients are in one large room. This has benefits and drawbacks. This night, I was seriously feeling the drawbacks. In the middle of all this, I was performing the simple task of hand washing. When I turned off the sink to dry my hands, the sink made the most horrific sound. It sounded like a heard of cattle in labor. The screeching was terrible! Immediately my task focus changed, I needed to page the plumber. Yup, you guessed it, the paging system did not work...Oh well! The plumber finally came to the ward and fixed the screaming sink. Meanwhile, on the dock, a patient was found unconscious. She was rushed to the ICU where she was stabilized and sent to my ward. Yikes! It was about 10:30pm at this point on the VVF ward, the doctors decided to do an emergency surgery on our bleeding patient. Not good news for my patient, but a relief for me, knowing the doctors were attending to her needs. We called the OR nurse, anesthesia provider, and the OR staff to come to the operating room. With this patient in the safe hands of our doctors; I moved onto my next task. Time to check all my patients, take their vital signs, fill their water bottles, and empty their catheter bags. One thing after another was happening and taking my attention away from the task at hand. At that moment, when I was ready to pull out my hair, Jane, my Irish roommate, also a nurse, popped in to see how I was doing. She immediately saw the stress and chaos on the ward, went down the hall, put on her scrubs, and returned to help in any way she could. Even though it was her night off, she came to help. Jane has the heart of a true servant. Jane's help gave me the chance to break away and check on my friend and patient, Theo, in the ICU. Now, do not worry, if he was truly in critical condition, I would have checked on him sooner. I knew he was stable. While I was checking on him and attempting to get some supplies out of a cupboard, I stood up really quickly and slammed the dickens out of my head. I saw stars for a second and then the tears just started flowing. At that moment, all my stress started pouring out my eyes in the form of huge crocodile tears. I knew I needed a break. I walked down the hall to my cabin, then let the tears run freely. My roommates, all home, which is very unusual, immediately came to me and started praying. What a blessing, to have my home just down the hall and people willing to carry my burdens to Jesus with me. With renewed strength and an aching head; I went back to the ward. Back on the ward, it was still crazy. My mom, working on the ward next to me was recruited to assist with the patient from the ICU, she graciously helped out, while I was still stressed and trying to catch up on the care for my patients. At 2:00am things were finally starting to calm down. I was standing in the middle of all my patient's charts working on catching up on late medications when Clementine, a ward disciple came through the door. She had heard about the chaos on the ward and was moved to come and pray for the patients and nurses. Amazing, the way God cares for us. In the middle of the storm, God sent someone to pray over me. Clementine richly blessed me as she prayed for God's peace to come upon the ward. Wow, I work in an amazing place! The night hours quickly disappeared, not a chance for me to feel sleepy. At 6:00am I started waking the patients that would be leaving for Sierra Leone. They showered, dressed, and ate. I helped them carry their bags out and watched them drive away. At 7:00pm the night before, the last thing I wanted to do was have the responsibility of discharging patients at such an early hour. But, it was the perfect way to end my shift and start a new day... As I reflect back on this crazy night shift, more of the "busy" details fade from my mind. But the smiles on the faces of the patients walking down the gangway that morning will never fade from my memory. That is what it is all about and for them... I would do it all again.