Journal rdewald's Journal: Lunchtime Wednesday in the Cardiovascular ICU 5

The nurses had the curtain pulled across my Dad's bed when I walked into the unit. I could hear the activity going on behind it--they were getting him out of bed and into a chair for the first time since the surgery.

Even before the curtain opened and before anyone knew I was there, the fact that this activity was underway answered a number of questions for me. First, he had been extubated that morning as they anticipated. Second, he was hemodynamically stable and not requiring an oxygen mask to keep his blood saturated with oxygen. He can move his hands and feet and he responds appropriately to commands. In short, he was doing much better.

After the nurses finished with the transfer and had him settled the way they wanted, the curtains parted and his nurse asked me if I was family. I was in the blue scrub top I had flown to Dallas wearing on Saturday (don't worry, it had since been washed), so I guess she thought I might have been a health care provider of some sort. I told her I was his son.

I moved a chair into his room and my father and I sat and chatted much in the same way that we typically do when I visit him at his home. He even had the same posture and position in his chair to which I am accustomed. We complained about the Texas Rangers and the Dallas Cowboys, commented on the news while both steering clear of political comment.

His nurse came back in to ask if he wanted her around for any reason. "Well, I always want you around, but I don't need anything right now" he said with a wry smile.

My Dad is flirting with his nurse.

The nurse assigned to him was what is sometimes called (sometimes affectionately, sometimes derisively) an "ICU Bunny." Typically cheerful, cute, and young, this one sported a blonde ponytail that bounces as she darts around the room and scrub pants maybe a size smaller than what would provide her with optimium comfort and flexibility. Nurses like this one assigned to my Dad today are generally the cream of nursing school classes, usually relatively new to nursing (less than 5 years), and sadly, the nursing profession typically eats them for lunch. They almost stereotypically gravitate to intensive and high-stress/reward positions for a few years and then leave nursing for a variety of reasons, some good, some bad, but only a few survive ten years in intensive/technical practice areas, if in nursing at all.

It's not their fault, this is not a poke at these nurses, not at all. It's a criticism of the nursing profession, which is mostly led by incompetents and short-sighted, unimaginative bureaucrats. A tremendous amount of knowledge and talent is lost as these nurses drop out, it's why there's a nursing shortage every few years. These nurses are badly abused, they have to live up to the same work-habit expectations of the nursing staff assigned to much lower stress practice areas--three weeks vacation, a week sick leave, full time schedules plus call and overtime. It's just stupid, but enough about that, I should rant about this later.

But, they look good in scrubs, and my Dad noticed that this morning. That's a good sign. I expect he'll leave the intensive care unit tomorrow. I made my plane reservations to fly back to NYC on Monday.