Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: BUSY (02/02/17)
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TITLE: Midnight Madness | Previous Challenge Entry
By Marlene Bonney
02/07/17 -
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The middle-aged seasoned R.N. checked over the supply of medications safely locked in a corner cupboard, noting expiring prescriptions for upcoming doctors’ visits. The rest of her skeleton staff for the holiday weekend gathered at the front desk for their duties and reports from the departing shift workers. The usual bustle dissipated as the “night-ies” took over.
“Blink, Beep, Blink,” a light over Room 220 lit up like a motel vacancy sign.
“I’ll go,” volunteered student nurse, Lisa. . .
“What did Roger want?” upon her return to report to Patti, “Let me guess, he couldn’t remember once you got there,” his worsening dementia challenging for all concerned.
“He misplaced his glasses; I finally found them in his urinal and had to disinfect everything. He went to sleep while I was checking his vitals with the cleaned glasses sliding off his nose.”
“Well, if that’s all we have to deal with tonight, we’ll have a lazy evening—a golden opportunity for you three to catch up on these clinical reports,” Patty planting a daunting stack of files on the counter like a desk drill sergeant as her “soldiers” groaned.
Before Lisa and her comrades opened one folder, a rapid succession of flashing call-lights and spasmodic beeps filled all three hallways. Four pairs of rubber-soled shoes squeaked down the freshly waxed corridors, stethoscopes and clipboards flapping behind them as they scurried. Like a gathering storm, things escalated into a frenzied bevy of activity to answer all the calls. Smoke alarms were going off, patient phones were ringing. Entry and emergency exit doors opened and closed like a department store’s Christmas Eve rush. Laptops and computers and cell phones with ring-tones of movie themes all competed for their attention, a choir gone berserk.
“What in the world?” even Nurse Heard alarmed by the mayhem.
Their only centenarian, Mr. Palasky, was having a panic attack; handicapped Elsa was screaming because her dentures had fallen out and she couldn’t reach them with her cane; old Mrs. Jenkins was trying to climb over her bed railing with limited success; and ALL the residents (except deaf Harold, a retired jackhammer operator) were awake in various stages of confusion.
Suddenly, making it all worse, the lights and other electrical systems of the building shut down, shrouding them all in the darkness of a bomb shelter. Wandering residents’ shuffling slippers roamed amidst bed-patient calls for help as the overwhelmed staff struggled to maintain control over the malfunctioning power grids. The main generator clicked on.
“Thank you, Lord!” Mrs. Heard exclaimed as the ladies bustled to check the safety of their infirm charges, “Girls, I want you to calm their fears and assure them that everything is under control. Mr. Snyder, our maintenance supervisor, is on the way here, as well as the facility’s owner. Let’s show them we can remain professional under trying circumstances. I know this has been an unusual and taxing evening,” nodding toward Lisa who had a ‘deer-in-the-headlights’ glassy stare on her pale face, “but God will give us strength to meet our patients’ needs. Gladys, you take the south wing; Linda, the north. I’ll take east and Lisa, you man the front desk as help arrives. Thankfully, our west wing is unoccupied.”
Hours flew by as residents’ essentials were addressed and those who were frightened, reassured. Maintenance workers, utility personnel and firemen (Mrs. Garcia having pulled the alarm as she groped down the wall in the dark) joined the busy, harried staff. An emergency electrician arrived with his team and were able to fix the system glitch, so that by 7 a.m. things had settled down significantly.
“Ma’am, I have to tell you, angels were watching over you this night. We found a defective cable that fed power to your electronic beds. It’s a miracle no one was injured. Any one of the connecting wires could have set off sparks strong enough to start a fire.”
From that time forward, Head Nurse Patti Heard led any shift she worked on with an opening prayer.
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