Tuesday, April 7, 2009

An interruption or two



I love nurses. When I was in the hospital giving birth to Kylynn, I was overwhelmed by the way they cared for me and my baby. I always generally thought that nurses have a worthwhile profession. It wasn't until I was the patient that I realized, they are in fact the greatest determinant in how fast you recover and how good you feel. They are amazing.

However, this last hospital stay was so horrible that it was funny. The nurses, nurse techs, doctors, and various workers came into our room every few minutes all night long. I was about to slug somebody and finally refused temperature monitoring during the night, however I learned that one's wishes are not always honored. When Kyle came in the morning, I explained the fact that Jack hadn't gotten to sleep all night and he quickly took over (my hero!). He asked that the nurses stay out of our room for 1 hour so that Jack could get a small amount of uninterrupted sleep, this is what followed, I swear it's true, for some reason Kyle took notes.

7:30 Jack is dozing happily

7:36 tech 1 checks blood pressure. He is unhappy at being woken up, so has a high BP. Tech says she will come back soon.

7:50 Doctor 2 visits to check on surgery. All looks well.

7:58 Kyle calms Jack to sleep. He leaves to ask the head nurse 3 for no interruptions until 9:15. She agrees to 9:00, excepting doctors.

8:00 Kyle walks down the hall to call family and let Jack sleep.

8:06 Worker 4 noisily brings in a tray of food. Kyle returns to the room to calm Jack again.

8:14 Tech 5 enters to check the oxygen machine. Kyle manages to keep him whispering, without turning on the lights.

8:18 Tech 1 returns to check blood pressure again. Kyle sends her away quietly.

8:28 Worker 6 checks if she can have Jacks breakfast tray back. Kyle sends her away quietly.

8:34 Tech 7 wants to check the supply of gloves in the bathroom. Kyle sends her away quietly.

8:38 Worker 6 returns to see if we need more water. “No, because they are both sleeping, not drinking.” Kyle sends her away quietly.

8:57 Tech 1 returns to check temperature and heart rate. We manage to get a reading without waking Jack, but he has a fever.

9:02 Jack awakes. We call head nurse 3 to give him fever medication.

9:22 Nurse 3 brings the medication.

I still love you nurses, but really sleep is important for babies!


1 comment:

KyleC said...

Where are all the comments? Seriously, that is fantastic looking tilework in the background, behind Jack. Didn't anyone else notice?