A State of PICU Delirium

PICU Nurse. Night Shifter.

[confessionsofapicunurse]

I'm dealing with occupational health for the first time. I got a concussion on the job. How did this happen? Oh, I just got head butted by a patient. But wait, you may be asking yourself, "Aren't you a pediatric nurse?" Yes, yes I am. He apparently got the bright idea to mix hand sanitizer with kool aid, got drunk off his ass, & earned himself an ICU admission. He was so out of it & combative, that he barely even noticed when he almost knocked me out. Kids, man. They never cease to surprise me.

[confessionsofapicunurse]

I had an auto vs pedestrian come in the other night. 10 years old. Intentional, as the driver was evading police & looking to cause a distraction. I was charge, so I went dowm to the ED to assist & miraculously, this girl was still conscious on arrival, although clearly in horrible shape. I held her hand as I pushed etomidate & succ for intubation, and worked alongside our ED team to stabilize her enough for CT & after surgery, she came to us in the PICU. Head shaved, missing parts of her skull, drains in place, as imaging had shown a horrific TBI. As soon as she came up & we knew the extent of her injuries, I knew what the outcome would be, but we still worked for days, trying to prevent the inevitable. The night before we withdrew, I charged again & I relieved her bedside nurse for lunch. Her mother was curled up on the couch, having finally cried herself to sleep & I just sat there at her bedside watching over her for a bit. And I held her hand for a little while. Just like when I held her hand as I put her to sleep, but this time, I knew she wouldn't get to wake up.

[confessionsofapicunurse]

[confessionsofapicunurse]

[confessionsofapicunurse]

My reaction when my infantile leukemic patient's father tells me that all of her current problems are caused by her two vaccines, and if he had his way, he would let her be "healed by the earth"

[narylfiel4]

When any patient starts spouting religious nonsense (whatever the religion) and screaming and singing at me at 3am

[confessionsofapicunurse]

The other night, I was charge in our pediatric ICU when I get called to the floor for a rapid. Run upstairs to see a teenager on the floor of the bathroom, seizing. Direct one of the nurses to go pull some ativan as m/s charge & bedside nurse are already mid vitals, administering oxygen, protecting head, etc. I look to the resident & say, "Hey Dr. V, how much Ativan do you want?" She responds with, "Administer 0.1 mg per kg." A quick look at the chart reveals that this kid is 75 kgs. I tell her this & just give her a minute to think this through. By the time I get the ativan in my hands, my intensivist has made it upstairs, but I give the resident another try; "Dr. V, how much ativan do you want? She is 75 kilos." Again, she says she wants, 0.1 mg/kg. My intensivist & I just stare for half a second, my intensivist says, "Yeah, just start with 2 mg."

Good grief woman, I'm already squatting over the toilet to push this med, do you want me to start bagging her in this position too?? Pick up what I am putting down because there is no way in hell that I am giving a 13 year old almost 8 mg of ativan for seizure activity. Happy August, y'all.

[narylfiel4]

Me when dayshift decides that I will be the charge nurse

[learningnurse1]

If I can do compressions in a 45 minute code with a mask and PPE on, you can wear your mask to the grocery store Karen.

[catchymemes]

[mysharona1987]

[cdnnurse]

[catlezzer-deactivated20200616]

why is this sentence written with such perfect comedic timing

[noxee]

[docresa]

[confessionsofapicunurse]

"So as it turns out, unless you're a young child or a prison inmate, you don't need anyone supervising you."

We are now entering month 2 without a manager on our unit. Once again 'The Office' mimics reality.

[trauma-13]

So if I could just...

1. Make what I make on night shift.

2. Work with the day shift people, PLUS the night people I like.

3. Never work with the shitty people.

4. Not wake up at 0530.

That's be great.

[confessionsofapicunurse]