Looking Back 2
Oh geez. I’m probably going to piss off a few of my good friends. I am going to tell you that for a very large number of skilled, sane nurses, there are a few who made the characters of One Flew over the Coo Coos Nest seem lucid. But in actuality they were mad as Hatters. I relieved a nurse who related well with patients but could not do the desk work very well. It finally came to a halt when her charting took on the appearance of a maze and had to be read by turning the cart upside down!My grandmother was part Tuscarora Indian. From her I inherited a spiritual ability to so at times see right through people to their very souls. I get strange feelings about people. Sometimes without any rational facts. It’s just a feeling I get about certain people.
One morning a new hire came on board and said “good morning.” My stomach turned and I broke out in a cold sweat. I went to my Unit Manager and said “don’t let this guy work.” She asked why but I could not express why. Weeks later he was proved to be a sociopath. He tricked a patient out of her bankiing pin number and stole her money. He showed no remorse for this. But maybe his time in jail made him rethink this evil deed.
Hospitals have a hard time keeping the schedules filled. That is a fact. But should nurses be kept on the schedule when proved to be impaired?
I worked one night with a nurse who was well dressed and showed signs of being well bred. But mentally there was nothing left. After moving charts back and forth and telling me she was OK when I called to offer help, she fell apart at the shifts end. The lights came on when she told me, “I can’t do this anymore.”
Damn, Damn! Damn! Where were the administrators who were told many times that something was wrong and that she could not do the work anymore? Why did no one get her help? I still remember her and wonder what became of her.
There was another incident that was not so much of someone being off the deep end as he was just a plain ole criminal. He worked the night shift and then and on his way home, robbed banks. After serveral banks heists, the San Diego Police Department give him a lengthy vacation. The world of nursing has many strange people. But I miss it everyday.