“Can you believe this?! I’m done with people!”
Hearing the exclamation behind me, I spun around from my computer in the Emergency Department to learn more.
The nurse continued while staring at her computer screen, “this 23-year-old in triage is 5 months pregnant and did 6 shots last night! And now she’s nauseated and she wants us to help?!”
I felt my blood boil. Bars had reopened last night in the setting of the pandemic.
“I knew this would happen after things opened. People are losing their damn minds.” I nodded quietly and shook my head.
I gave it some time. I avoided her room. I didn’t want to face the ugliness of the world. Not yet.
Eventually, I walked in.
She was in tears. Her husband, the father of her unborn child, left her yesterday. Not knowing what to do and in a fog, she barely remembered reaching for the bottle.
She was ashamed. She was frightened she’d killed her baby. She was worried about the judgment she would receive.
Rightly so.
I placed an ultrasound probe on her abdomen. She saw the heartbeat. As she cried happy tears, swearing she’d never do it again, we quietly expressed our apologies to people we’d never met: hers to her unborn child, mine to the selfish and careless party girl who existed only in my mind.
“I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.”
One thing that made me an amazing nurse was my ability to turn off the smack about patients during report and to assume their care with a fresh perspective which served EVERYONE well. This industry requires compassionate & empathetic caregivers. I’m imagining the provider complaining was just tired and having a moment. I hope. We all need to reminded….j
udge not lest ye be judged….Thanks for sharing