Whinorrhea! By Elizabeth A. Schultz, RN, BSN
Marsha took a deep cleansing breath before entering Room 519. It was only midnight, and she already answered Mrs. Gorski’s call light four times. The evening nurse had given Mrs. G. a Halcion at 9:30 and assured Marsha she would sleep through the night. Another empty promise.
“What took you so long?” Mrs. G whined. “I called 10 minutes ago. What if it had been an emergency? I could be dead by now..maybe that would be a good thing. I wish I were dead.”
“Mrs. Gorski,” Marsha said calmly, “I saw your light go on from down the hall. I finished what I was doing and came directly to your room. I’ve been in here five times, and I really do need to check my other patients before it gets much later. Now, what can I do for you?” (more…)
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I started out like the others. I entered nursing school with bright eyes and high ideals, naive to the ways of the real world of nursing. I knew I was going to be different. I would do all my charting immediately after giving care. My patients would be turned every two hours, on the dot. My meds would be given exactly on time. I would be the perfect nurse.
Hob Osterlund is a clinical nurse specialist in Pain and Pallative Care at The Queen’s Medical Center (QMC) in Honolulu. She also writes, performs, and produces comedy that provides therapeutic benefits for both patients and nurses. She and her research team have just completed the COMIC study (COMedy In Chemotherapy) at QMC and are eagerly awaiting the results. Before we get to the details of her study, let me introduce this amazing woman.