The other night we were so busy I didn't have the time to make my patient a cup of tea. That sounds ridiculous but I was literally swamped.
I remember thinking, this is the sort of thing people remember. It won't matter to that patient that the lady in the next bed got her pain relief, or that the lady opposite was able to walk out to the bathroom. What she wil probably remember is that the nurse was too busy to get her a cup of tea.
That makes me feel sad. Imagine being so busy that you don't have a couple of spare minutes to make a drink for someone. I couldn't even delegate, everyone was manically busy.
This i guess, is one of the joys of working on an assessment unit. I had 4 admissions within the space of a few hours. Not an excuse and to me, the simple acts, such as making someone a drink, are a priority.
I had a few shifts like this lately and honestly when I went to bed I couldn't sleep properly thinking of all the care I couldn't give, despite the care I did.
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