A Day in the Life of Julie

What's that? You want to hear all about my day??

OK!

I must have been delirious yesterday when I volunteered to do an extra shift today. Either that or I was thinking about the price of the Crate and Barrel patio set we just bought that will be delivered tomorrow... Follow all of that?

When I arrived at work this morning I found that I was assigned as a "sitter", on the second floor. Basically patients in the hospital need a "sitter" when (not if) they become crazy (ie biting through IV tubing, climbing over side rails to get out of bed, peeing on staff members, etc etc.) Therefore I was not looking forward to the day. BUT, I was pleasantly surprised to find my sweet patient who had been confused during the night was now completely with it! AND she needed to go have an MRI done in Roseville! Which means I would be travelling along with her when the paramedics came to pick us up! In an AMBULANCE! Yipeee! I was uber thrilled! Sign me up! I love ambulances! AND paramedics. Obviously the older, balding, overweight, married ones! Obviously.

The paramedics were late picking us up and we got lost going to Roseville! Ha. You'd think that would have given me a clue about how the day would unfold. Unfortunately I was still being naive and enjoying the new experience. That is until the MRI people told us it would be at least an hour until my sweet little lady got her MRI, which led to our sweet friends the paramedics just abandoning us in this random office. Of course as soon as the paramedics walk out the door the medication I gave to my patient during our ride began to take affect. Thus causing my sweet alert and oriented lady to become lethargic, confused, and crazy. I was sitting in a waiting room next to normal everyday people while my lady is about to pass out asking about flying sandwiches one minute and running through the waiting room in a hospital gown with her booty hanging out the next. After an hour of this it was finally time for the MRI. Just in time for the sedatives to leave her system and her to refuse to have the MRI!

No. Nope. Nada. Oh no she didn't.

I then had to strip everything metal off my person (even the bobby pins holding my cute hairdo in place) to enter the MRI room to talk my confused crazy lady into getting the freaking MRI done. After she finally agreed and the tech started the scan my lady pressed the "emergency save me" button literally every 3 minutes during the 30 minute scan. Each time we'd have to go into the room, pull her out, talk her into it, push her back in, close the door, start the scan, then BEEP! "Emergency save me" button would alarm! ARG!

Finally the scan was done and the next set of paramedics came to pick us up. As we pulled back into the hospital parking lot my patient asked me if I drove a car. I told her yes I did drive a car. She said, "Good then you can just take me home now." UGH! Thankfully as soon as we got my sweet psycho lady back up to her room the charge nurse came and found me and said I could go home!

That was my day. At least I was getting time and a half.