A Blessing :)

In case you are unaware, I am a Registered Nurse working in labor and delivery.

This specialty seems to be "feast or famine" in nature.

It's either so busy that we just barely have enough staff to handle the workload, or we have already called everyone on the list of employees (twice) who can possibly help us and

we simply have no choice but to work with what we have.

Even when it's busy busy busy...the majority of the time,

we assist women to give birth healthy babies and the outcomes are happy!

OR

We have zero patients on the unit, or maybe just one or two Mom/Baby couplets which equals a very slow and boring night most of the time.

Even in a case where there is not a patient on the floor, we still must remain staffed with at least 2 RNs because in labor and delivery, things can happen suddenly and, being a rather rural hospital, we

have to be constantly prepared for an emergency.

Then there is the scenario where the other units in the hospital are desperate for assistance AND our unit is low on patients. This is when they allow all the scheduled nursing staff to come in to work, expecting to work on their familiar unit but they ask one of you to "GWYN". Go Where You're Needed.

I've worked in several different places during my 18 year nursing career and I have yet to meet a nurse who likes to hear the words, "You need to go to __________ for your 8 (or 12) hour shift today."

Well, it was my turn last night to heed the call.

As an L&D nurse, I was not given a specific patient assignment because I'd have to be ready to immediately be called back to my unit if a labor patient arrived.

In my attempt to fully rely on God, I chose to have a positive attitude regarding my alternate duties.

He blessed me for it!

It is amazing how quickly the Lord hears us and rewards us sometimes, isn't it?

I was needed on the "Medical/Surgical" unit.

My main responsibility was to help the other nurses answer call lights and tend to patient needs accordingly.

It has been quite a long time since I have done patient care with other than laboring women and newborns, but with several years of previous experience, it all came back quickly!

Pampering patients who have recently had hip or knee replacements, bowel resections, & many other general surgeries was actually a bit refreshing for me. It brought me joy to bring pain medicine, help with repositioning, even just bringing a new jug of ice water!

Normally for me, since I work in a generally "upbeat" specialty, it's somewhat expected for your patients & their families to be in a fairly good to great mood. Yes, a woman in labor may say a few choice words and lose her smile for a bit, but she quickly finds it again once she's holding the crying infant in her arms she just worked so very hard to bring into this world.

On the other hand, you wouldn't necessarily expect medically ill patients to be all that chipper.

It was a great blessing to me to notice how just a little small talk and the fluffing of a pillow could brighten someone's evening. In my opinion, this part of nursing is one of the most important to the patient's well being and one that I don't have to work very hard at in L&D because it seems to just come naturally.

Even if my own spirits aren't up where they ought to be, just witnessing birth after birth tends to bring a smile.

The greatest blessing to me this night?

I went in to assess a confused elderly man who recently

had surgery and was unable to move and position himself.

He was continuously yelling out,  "Help me, somebody please!"

When I initially entered the room, he said, "I barely recognized you." Of course, he wouldn't recognize me since we had never met before, but like I said, he was confused. He asked me if he was tied down. He was not, however he did have several things 'attached' to him. I explained his attachments to him, fluffed his pillows, repositioned him in the bed, helped him get a sip of fresh ice water & put some balm on his lips for him. 

When he seemed situated, I asked him if I could do anything else for him. 

He said, "Do you think you could sit down and talk to me for awhile? I think that will help."

~Melt my heart, why don't ya?~

Of course I sat down in the chair next to him and we talked. He told me where he was from. He tried to remember how many children he had, but never reached a real conclusion. He asked me about my family & intently listened as I told him. We chatted for about 5 minutes and then, with a tear in his eye,

he reached out, held my hand and said, "Thank You. I think I can sleep now, you're an angel."

For the remainder of my time on the Med/Surg unit, he did not yell out again.

5 minutes. That's all it took.

This exchange happened at the very beginning of my shift & paved the way for a

wonderful remainder of the night!

It helped me remember that it really is the little things that make the biggest impact. That if we obey scripture by looking closely at our "neighbor" to see how we can show God's love to them,

it will not only be a blessing to them, but to us as well. 

I was dreading the GWYN shift, but God gave me a situation that brought His plan into focus.

I am so thankful for the way He transforms adversity into blessings. Sometimes I have to look closely to realize it, but He is always watching, and always sending blessings my way.

Our God is an Awesome God!