Simple Blessing's

This week I spent 12 hours in what I felt was one's interpretation of Hell. My work day began with getting our assignments, two patients down the critical care hall. Not usually a terrible task however this day would be a challenge. My one patient was suffering from what we know as ICU delirium, after days in our world some patients wake up in a maze of confusion, making them very difficult to manage. While this is not his fault by any means, it is a challenge to us in the nursing world as it is our responsibility to keep our patients safe. My second patient is a young man, gravely ill and was also quite busy. Now being busy isnt such a problem, it is when nothing seems to go right, getting your patient ready for surgery at 3PM then they show up at 1PM, the exact time your other patient is scheduled for a procedure in his room, just stuff like that. Drains that arent suppose to leak and run on the floor do, basically from the beginning to the end everything that could go wrong did. Now I must clarify that my patients were safe at all times which is a relief to me however it was the kind of day that caused me to embrace both tears and doubt.

The purpose of this blog is not just to whine about my day, even though it was a definite whine inspiring day. It is to share what was the one moment that made the whole day, all the craziness, all the frustrations, big and small, completely worthwhile. It was the end of the shift, Im tired, I sat down once in 12 hours for about 15 minutes where I tried to eat something in spite of the knawing pain in my tooth, different blog, different time. I had just received my young patient back from the OR, I am attempting to care for him while working on keeping my other patient safe from himself when the young man's dad walks up to me, puts his hand on my shoulder and with tears in his eyes said to me "Thank you so much for caring for my son, your doing a wonderful job". I didnt have time to slow down and allow those words to minister to me at that time, Im sure I said something appropriate but was too busy to embrace the moment. The one moment that was intended to ease the pain of this day.

On my drive home I spent time reflecting on my day, the horror of it, and then as I got to the end of my day, that one moment between tired, frightened father and exhaused, frazzled and frustrated nurse. It made me think about how many days do I allow to pass without finding that one moment that makes it all OK, maybe better than OK, possibly even great. This fathers words to me that evening were a gift, a message from God telling me there is a reason for what you do, even your worst days your still touching lives, making a difference in my kingdom. My nightmare day blessed someone and that will always be what I consider to be a great day.