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I recently had a dialysis patient who needed some pain medicine during treatment. When I got there I suited up before heading in. I spoke briefly with her dialysis nurse. He was pleasant and let me know how much longer she had.
Later, I was at the station when the ward clerk called my name. “Diana!” I turned to see a guy holding my patient’s chart. It took me a moment to realize who he was since he had been wearing a mask and gown when I saw him last – and I said as much to him before getting report. (That in itself was odd as the dialysis nurses usually called to give their report before sending the patient back down. ) After getting report he asked me, “Is it Diana (English pronunciation) or Dee-AH-nah?” I responded, ” Dee-AH-nah, but no one can ever say it.” “I’m Juan. It’s nice to meet you,” he said while offering his hand. I shook it and went on to see my patient.
Since then I see him at least once during my shift, usually in passing. Just long enough for a smile in greeting, but also strange because there is typically no reason for a dialysis nurse to be on our floor unless they have to do the treatment at the bedside. Very rare. Yesterday it looked like he took the stairs from the floor above me to take the elevators directly in front of my station.
He’s kind of cute.
I’ve always liked John, the night nurse. He’s funny and cute, but was married so our interactions always remained platonic. We joke and kid around much like I do with my own brother. In fact, I’d never noticed a whiff of inappropriate behavior on his part with me or anyone else.
With a recent divorce , he’s suddenly gone from hands-off to totally free. And since then it doesn’t feel so safe… if that makes any sense. I don’t feel like I changed any of my behaviors; it’s more like everything he says seems to have another meaning, and I don’t think I’m reading more into it.
He had me take a picture of him that he said was to send to his sister. His camera phone is kind of crappy, so I offered to use mine. Like most people, he wasn’t thrilled with the photos and commented that he just kept looking fat. He’s not, but – yes- the pictures were not so flattering. He asked me then if I thought he was good-looking.
Another time I was giving him report, and while joking about something he leaned over and squeezed my arm. It stood out in my mind because, while nothing big, I don’t think he’d ever actually touched me before – except to kick me behind my knee to try to make me unsteady. That’s been pretty regular since we’ve met. Like I said, he was always like a brother.
During another shift change he made some remark that I can’t remember now about my mood -
Me: “Hey! Just remember you always see me at my worst: first thing in the morning and at the end of a shift.”
John: “So….we should do lunch?”
It’s been a little weird. He’s newly divorced (7 yrs and 2 kids) and a co-worker. So it’s not that I’m seriously considering starting or encouraging anything. I just miss my old pal.
That and I’m a complete spaz to begin with.
During some free time the experienced nurses sitting in the station started sharing their stories about doctors. Many were about the tantrums (and charts) thrown. One in particular caught me interest.
A nurse’s patient died in the morning, soon after shift change. The nurse attempted to notify the MD. Again and again she paged. The doctor finally showed up for rounds early afternoon, having never returned the page. The nurse saw him go into the room, and she quickly followed behind him. In the room, she watched him greet the family, greet the patient, and wiggle the patient’s toe before turning to leave the room. The family was speechless. Once out in the hallway, she told the MD that he had better get back in that room and explain his behavior to the family seeing as how the patient was dead.
How I would have loved to have heard that explanation!
I’m sure many people with any semblance of a blog have received an e-mail similar to the following (name/link removed and bold/italics mine):
Hi,
I ran across your [old blog] and was curious if you would be interested in writing a short post about [travel nursing organization] (link ). They would like to promote their Travel Nurse program and I figured that would be very relevant to your site’s content and audience. It wouldn’t need to be very long and would only need one outbound link to their website. If you prefer, I could supply the content pending your approval before publishing. Of course, I’d be willing to compensate you for the post too. We’re hoping to have something published this week. Just let me know if you’re interested or have any questions. Hope we can do business together. If not, keep on blogging!
-Simolyn
Obviously it’s not real for anyone can easily see I don’t have the readership it would take to make paying me anything worthwhile. Though it is very nice of Simolyn to offer to save me from the chore of actually writing my own post.
Some people have blogged about their stand against any form of advertising on their blog. The problem with that is that we all advertise something everyday. Do you wear logos? Do you discuss products with your friends and family? I would never blindly advertise and publish reviews written by anyone other than myself. And the blog will be what it has always been: my thoughts laid out to be read by the few who find me and stop by. So, for those who’d love me to write about them or their product – just beware that I would write what I actually thought, good or bad.
Listen up, Corporate America! Here are a few of the following things I would be very happy to review for you in exchange for the product:
E-mail me and we can discuss what you have to offer. Please, please e-mail me.
