tonight at work.

We have these things called ‘Code boxes’ for when a patient goes critical up on the floor. Then the nurse hits a button upstairs., and we page overhead the code to whichever room shows up. Spare nurses and docs run up to that room as fast as possible to help out. The code box alarm goes off until the nurse hits the cancel button

About half the time these things are in error, and the code box will go off very briefly, two or three seconds and then shut off. In these cases, we call the floor to make sure that they don’t need a code, and we don’t page them overhead.

My coworkers today asked if they had done the right thing in the situation where the code had gone off briefly by calling the floor. I said yes, and told them the next time it happens to use their discretion.

I then realized my error.

Working with the people at this desk you NEVER depend on their discretion, because they have no common sense. Case-in-point: We had a hard and fast rule about pregnant patients, anything over 20 weeks went upstairs to OB, else they were seen in the ER. Of course, if the were 24 weeks and had the sniffles, we sent them to ER on common sense.

Or rather, most of us did. A coworker had a fit when an OB patient came in and she sent them to ER instead of to the floor, and a ‘policy’ had to be initiated where the Emergency Room nurse ALWAYS sees them if they haven’t talked to OB. Of course, when people who have common sense talk to the pregnant women, find out they’re 34 weeks pregnant, and are having cramps, we send them to OB rather than have them wait another 15 minutes for a triage nurse to tell us that.

Anyway, tonight, I told them to ‘use their discretion’, and I was greeted by three blank looks. After five minutes and rethinking what I told them, I told them to just call the code, regardless.

You could honestly feel the relief from the coworkers. They smiled and said ‘That’s what we thought’, and ‘I was confused when you said previously, but now it’s better’.

Lesson learned: do not depend on idiots to be able to use their discretion.

I’ll admit it. Today, I called Pacifica’s office, and left a message for them to call me. I waited up an hour, until about 3:30. And then I went to sleep.

I was supposed to call a friend today in the afternoon. instead, I went to sleep.

Homework beckoned to be done, but instead I went to sleep.

When you work nights, it becomes almost an obsession to get as much sleep as you can. if sleep were gold, I’d be the dragon hoarding the stuff. Man, I love sleep. A night’s successfulness is judged on the amount of hours of sleep you get during the day. Usually my nights are horrible horrible times of trying to stay awake, on those days I get 4-5 hours of sleep. sometimes though, sometimes, I have enough sleep. Sometimes like today, I had 9 hours. 9 hours of glorious sleep.

Yes. That is my sin: I love sleep too much.

is not right.

And I don’t know if its the subject, or the fact that I was tempted to bid on it until I noticed the price was over $100.