Jan 5, 2007

The Med Room


I've had a rough week in nursing. It actually seems like I have a lot of rough weeks in Nursing. The bad outweigh the good anyway.
Is it possible to burn out after just 7 months?

Maybe it's just the time of year, the holidays and such. I'll hang in there because I still like the job....I still love the career.


I just know some of my co-workers feel the same way.

It seems the Med room on my unit is the the dumping ground for frustrations. We nurses don't get too much time to chat with one another if we are really working our tails off.

Although there are some units who have Nurse's stations for that. Ours is pretty open with lots of people hanging out there. Interns, Residents, Physical therapists, patients even. Some one can overhear the venting and take offense.

We Nurses, We run into each other in the Med room getting our Narcotics, Insulin, Saline bags, IV supplies, and etc.

While we are in that tiny, hot, and somehow soundproof room it seems we have the perfect opportunity to vent to each other about our frustrations of the day or vent about the one or two nurses or aides who aren't pulling their weight.

The door has a code lock and a thick window....you can see and hear people coming in.

I have on many occasions heard and uttered the phrases "Is your patient load as bad as mine?"; "What is WITH these people today?" and "Why are all these sick people here?!"
That last phrase is my favorite sarcastic one.

The Med room is a safe place to utter and hear these phrases. It won't be overheard by someone who will take offense....the only people who hear are the other nurses who understand.

I like our med room, it's quiet there. You can hide in there if only for a few moments and collect yourself.

I need that in a particularly crazy shift.

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5 Comments:

At 12:44, Blogger girlvet said...

You are so right, the med room is the only place to get some peace and sympathy some days. I used to think having it locked, coded etc was a bad thing but I think it is the nursing Gods way of taking care of us.

 
At 04:18, Blogger Unimum209 said...

Hang in there, I hope you had a chance to spend time with people you love and to do something nice for yourself over the silly season!!!

 
At 10:43, Blogger Unemployed Nurse Jack said...

Thank goodness for safe places. Everybody needs to grumble sometimes.

Maybe see you soon (?). Will you send me your e-mail address again? Thanks.

 
At 17:56, Blogger overactive-imagination said...

I've noticed the same thing about the med room during my rotations. It's just like yours with the code entry and thick glass and MAN do those nurses ever bitch. LOL.
The funny thing is that they also have a nurses lounge where they do a fair share of bitching but it seems like there are some nurses who are imtimidated by some of the other nurses, or perhaps the sheer number of nurses that are in there at once and they wait to unload until the get into the med room.

Hey, I say ....so it where you can and where you feel the most comfortable. Without a place to vent you'd probably explode.
Dawn :o)

 
At 17:26, Anonymous Anonymous said...

We NEED a good med room. It's a safe haven in my neck of the woods, too.
/jo

 

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