As I sit in my hospital bed, I become very sick. I ring my call light. It takes 20 minutes for nurse Mabel to answer. I am on the verge of throwing up. I ask Mabel for zofran. She refuses to give me any. She says she has to do her assessment first. She takes her sweet time checking for my pulses, looking at my IV sites, etc. I shake uncontrollably from the severe pain and discomfort in my GI tract. Mabel scorns me for moving during her assessment. I tell her I am going to throw up. I need something to puke in. She leisurely searches my room. When I start throwing up, she gives me a towel. She finishes her assessment. She then wanders off to get me some zofran.
It takes about 20 minutes for Mabel to return. She gives me the zofran and leaves. She never checks up on me.
Two hours later, I become sick again. I ring my call light. This time, Mabel responds within five minutes. I ask for some pain medication. She leaves. I notice Mabel is standing outside my room not doing anything. When a patient leaves a room next to mine, Mabel begins organizing and cleaning the room. I wait 25 minutes and decide to push my call light again. When Mabel sees my light, she says to a nurse in the hallway, “These people have no patience.” Mabel continues to meander around the hallway. When another nurse sees my call light on, she asks Mabel, “Do you want me to get that room for you?” Mabel responds, “No. She is just going to have to learn to wait.”
Five minutes pass and Mabel finally gets the pain medication. She administers the medicine and seems unconcerned about my condition. My pulse oximeter keeps alarming. It has been on for a number of days and is failing. I ask Mabel for a new pulse oximeter. She says she will get one. I wait and wait. She never returns with one. Thankfully, the respiratory therapist checks in on me. I ask him for a new pulse oximeter for my finger. He immediately gets one and changes it out. Finally my machine stops beeping.
Mabel never checks in on me to see how my pain and nausea are. She returns to my room 2.5 hours later with a scheduled medicine. Mabel never asks about my symptoms.
I am grateful when Mabel’s shift ends. Stress melts away. Now I no longer have to fear that if I become sick I will have to wait until my nurse feels like getting me some medicine. When my daytime nurse begins her shift, I breathe a sigh of relief. The day nurse is an exceptional human being. She gives her patients the utmost respect and speedily responds to call lights. Like night and day are the differences between these two nurses. I pray Mabel learns compassion. I pray Mabel has her eyes opened that her responsibility as a nurse is to tend to her patients.
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