The ICU

So, I have done two shifts in the ICU for my new clinical rotation. I love my preceptor so far. She looks like a little elf - short spikey hair, little tiny person, she even has pointy ears! She is very nice, upbeat, not burntout and realistic. It is very nice to see someone who loves her job and doesn't talk down to patients.

On the second day, I had my own patient. She was an advanced Alzheimer's patient with a fractured hip. She had had it repaired and was in the ICU because she had had some arrhythmias in the PACU. Anyway, she was out of control. She would be nice and fine one minute and then she was mean and nasty the next minute. She kept pinching me, she spit at the NA, and she tried to hit one of the other nurses. So, towards the end of my 12 hour shift, my patient was back in bed and she did not have the restraints on since she had been relatively cooperative for the past few hours. I look in there and she has her hands under the blanket in the general area of her Foley catheter. I run in there and she is yelling at me to stop hurting her, I pulled back the blanket and find her YANKING AT HER CATHETER. She wasn't bleeding yet, but she was getting close! I go to pry her fingers from the catheter and she grabs both of my hands and will not let go. I called for my preceptor who comes in laughing and we managed to get her to let go and get the restraints back on. It was a crazy 12 hours and reinforced my desire to work in the ED where my patients come and go within the same day!!!

Don't get me started on the Kayexalate enema I had to give.......