Duty

This past Sunday there was a serious incident that shook the entire jail and taught me the important lesson of duty. Two TB syringes were unaccounted for, which led to a shakedown of the entire facility.

I spent the first 5 hours of my morning playing Sherlock. I called nurses from previous shifts, analyzed sharps count sheets in all three medical offices, analyzed activity on our EMR, corroborated stories, communicated with my charge nurse(who later on we discovered drove back from Deep Creek Lake for this), and relayed all information to security.

What I learned was not just detail orientation, but the complexity behind what it means to fulfill your duty as a nurse.

The charge nurse drove all the way back from Deep Creek Lake(5 hour trip), ending her well-deserved vacation, to deal with this issue. Meanwhile, our HSA(everyone’s boss) who lived half an hour away, refused to show up for this issue. In my opinion, the HSA should’ve been involved. It is so unfair to make someone drive 5 hours, when you live in the area. Yet my charge nurse still did it. She’s been such a fantastic role model for me.

That morning, when my charge nurse arrived, she got a call out from the night nurse within an hour of arrival. The compounded stress would overwhelm anyone, but she handled it with grace and swiftly resolved the issue.

This same night nurse had been calling out on and off the last few days and it has required team members to step up and help. One of the float LPN’s who has also been a great role model for me, was working a shift with me the other day but left early so that he could work that evening. He didn’t get to sleep(having been up for the day), but still did his job.

I think its an awesome part of the job. Everyone is bound by their sense of duty, and we rise to the occasion to support each other.