Medical Emergency

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Beep Beep Beep Beep

Binx lays next to me, purring and moving his face under my chin. "Morning to you too." I laugh. I roll out of bed. Again, the usual morning routine. I sift through my closet as the intercom beeps. "Hello?" I say. "Hey, it's me! Buzz me in!" I hit the button long enough to unlock the door downstairs. In minutes, Liz is at my door, handing me a coffee. She follows me to my room, I open my closet again, looking for something to wear. "Ooh I like this one! Wear this!" She says, pulling out a plain, tight black dress and jean jacket. "I need shoes." I say, she looks through the bottom of my closet at the massive shoe collection I've acquired over the years. A pair of nude boots with an open toe. I slip them on, fixing my dress so it's straight on my hips. 

"You look hot!!" She smiles, I grab my brown purse from the dresser, fixing my long wavy curls. "Let's go! Class starts in 20!" We head out to the car, my day to drive to school. We blast the radio, singing along to the music, letting the breeze flow through the car in the late summer air. I find a spot, a decent walk from the entrance of Kingsley Hall. Walking inside and down the hall, the door locked. "Guess we wait here." We stand in the hall, waiting for others to show up. Kids line the hall, walking in and out of the doors at each end to their classes. Matt makes his way inside, unlocking the door and heading in. "How was work this week ladies?" He asks, like he doesn't already know about the girl who's no longer on life support. "Good!! I had an older couple, husband had a surgery on his knee and he's doing great." Liz says talking about all her good patients. He looks over at me as she talks, I shift in my seat. "Hi everyone, how is everyone doing today?" He says, beginning class without asking about my week. Head nods all around. He starts class with a powerpoint about health literacy and autonomy of nurses. 

"We have to make sure we speak up for ourselves. Nurse bullying is a large portion of why nurses leave the field or have trouble in specific specialties. For instance, I was bullied a lot as a nurse when I first started, being a male nurse has a lot of backlash. Because many people see nursing as a primarily female-focused occupation." He goes on and on about bullying in the workforce and why nurses don't usually speak up about being bullied.

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"Male, 27 years old, overdose in the field, found unresponsive on the side of the road, pulse lost during transport, CPR initiated, pushed epinephrine twice, no response. Continued CPR." I get report as they push him into our main room. One paramedic on him, performing CPR. "Switch out." I tag in, counting in my head. "How long as he been down?" "10 minutes." He says. "Any response at all since?" He shakes his head. We push every med, continuous CPR, nothing, no response. His skin cold, his body turning pale and lips blue. "Emily stop.." They say, over and over. "Stop, he's gone." "No, we have to save him." I push through, my voice cracks as I yell back. They pull me off, preventing me from continuing. "Time of death, 1852." She calls out. We stand silently, the room trashed, filled with empty syringes, gauze, gloves. I sniffle, leaving the room and hiding in the clean utility room. After that, everyone talked, whispers among each other. Glances over my shoulder, eyes on me at all times. For wanting to save someones life when everyone else gave up, how is that wrong?

~~~

"Thanks everyone. Discussion board one is due by next Wednesday. Please have your initial response by Saturday and respond to two peers by Tuesday night. Use all resources in APA format." He says. Everyone packs up their things and head out the door. 

"Hey Emily, hold back for a second." Liz nods and I hand her my keys, she heads out the door. "How are you?" He asks. "I've been better." I say, sighing. "I just wanted to check in, it was a tough week. I know you lost an older man from a heart attack, and Kayleigh, she passed yesterday. Her parents took her off life support." He says. "I heard." His smile soft and painful. "It sucks to lose a patient so young, but that's the job unfortunately. The bad outweighs the good. But the good is always so fulfilling." He says, he's clearly as upset as I am, being he took care of her. Kids dying of cancer all the time can't be easy to bring home. He stands, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. "Just wanted to make sure you were okay." He puts his hand on my shoulder, giving me a pained look, I smile. We walk out the door, he holds it for me to walk out. "Have a good week Emily." He says, walking off to his car. I find mine, getting in the drivers seat.