Ouch

I got home from work a little while ago and I'm exhausted. I got pulled for the fourth time in a freakin month. Even the charge nurse from days and then the charge nurse from nights on the floor I was pulled to felt it was excessive. It was reassuring to know I wasn't freakin nuts for HATING the fact it keeps happening. Anyway, I've had better nights, but I've also had much worse. I started off with four patients, so I basically knew to expect an admission. I worked hard to get as much done as I possibly could. Then, there it was. "You're getting an admission." Joy. She was extremely nice, though, but she was a trainwreck. Presented with fever and r/o sepsis, gastroenteritis and more. At one point she had a temp of 103..that was after giving 650 tylenol. It went up from 102.6. I had to call the doctor. He ordered a cooling blanket (which took forever to arrive and then by then she really didn't need it..I kinda wanted to know how to set one up). He also actually told me "put alcohol swabs in the axilla". This doctor, yes, had an accent as many hospitalists do. But I Had to ask him to repeat this. Evidently it is an old trick that people use to get fever down so I was told. He also ordered cold "sponges". I had to clarify with the charge nurse that simply meant washcloths. Haha. Well, later, I had to call again, because her potassium dropped and I needed to order zofran because she'd already gotten phenergan and thrown up. It was already low when she came in. For those unaware, (and haven't read my previous posts), any abnormality of a potassium level has the potential to affect cardiac functions and rhythms. He said to bolus her and also continue the K in her fluids. By the time I needed to have insulin for her that he didn't order, I'd already called twice. I left a communique. It was already after 0600. I did double check that with the charge nurse before not calling him again though.
I finally get everything done, and then I hear "The nurse you're giving report to will be late." Really? Last time I was on this floor I had to wait to give report as well. And, I don't remember for sure, but almost positive it was the same person. Do they not care on that floor? Somehow I managed to get out a little after 8 but don't ask me how! Of course, I hit every red light on the way home! hahaha
Now that I'm home, I'm completely exhausted. I am simply in too much pain to sleep though. My leg feels like one big bruise. But it's not. It has one small bruise, sure, I always have bruises because I always run into everything under the sun. This is just the pain I've been dealing with, though, and today it is really really bad. It is primarily my right leg like always. It started hurting pretty badly at work, but I just tried my best to ignore it and push on, because I was busy. Now that I'm home and just laying around, it is kind of hard to ignore it. Maybe I'm crazy, but I still want to go running. If I wasn't in pain, I would have gone already. I figured it was best to let my body get some sleep first though and go later today or this evening. I have to pull another allnighter tonight, because I'm right back tomorrow. Ugh. I hate weeks like this. It's just really hard to work nights in general, then to have to work two, off one, work one..gross. Ya work days it's not so bad skipping around like that. But if ya work nights, it's not so easy to fight that natural circadian rhythm. Bleh. We will see how it goes. I made it til about 4am the other night. Too early, but I still slept all that day. I just really want to stop hurting. :( Yes, I'm still taking the "head in the sand approach", but I'm slowly working up the courage to call a doctor. I just wish I knew how to pick one. I did kinda sneak in a "so who did you say your neurologist was?" with my patient the other day. ;) I mean, I'm pulling at straws. My dad's neurologist isn't in my network.