mood rings.

By impactEDnurse • Feb 16th, 2007 • Category: reflective practice.

Stress levels can swing wildly from moment to moment and form area to area within the emergency department.
At Bed 1: the nurse is laughing enthusiastically as she hears (for the ten millionth time), her patient answer; “Well….actually, I am allergic to pain”.
Not three meters away at Bed 5: A flustered nurse battles to secure nasal oxygen to a combative, hypoxic 12 month baby.
15 minutes later Bed 1 is in cardiac arrest while bed 5 is well perfused and sleeping like a cat.

Crisis and catastrophe, laughter and levity, small situational pockets flash in and out of the background bustle. The contours of tempo and mood constantly shifting through the room, pressure fronts form up and collide and melt away. Shafts of sunlight stab through.

Sometimes you have time to lean up against your work for a moment and spread a little harmless gossip. Other times you can barely catch scattered glimpses of your colleagues bobbing in and out of curtained cubicles. Fluorescent life preservers half-glimpsed through stormy seas.

impactEDnurse is also known as Ian Miller, a nurse with over 26 years experience working in a busy emergency department in, Australia. This site in no way reflects the opinions of that hospital. All stories (although based on actual experiences) have been changed to protect patient confidentiality.
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2 Responses »

  1. sue on February 17th, 2007 at 11:56 pm:

    Thanks! That is not only beautiful writing … but such an acurate description of my day yesterday! Thanks for helping me see I’m not alone!

  2. Jon on February 19th, 2007 at 2:49 pm:

    Surgery stress feeds me!

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