As we've been in the hospital this week, I've seen many signs around talking about this week being nurses week. Being in this hospital last time we had some amazing nurses (yay for Sandy) and some not so good nurses. But to all of them, what a crazy profession. I'm so glad that there are people who want to do what they do, because being in the hospital would be miserable without them.
Nurses are amazing!
Today at shift change we said goodbye (well, hopefully for now) to Ian, he doesn't work again until Wednesday and we are hoping to move from ICU before then. He's been with us through a lot this week.
My first memory of him, I can't remember which day, was a day that he had someone that he was training. He was very patient and kind with her and was giving her some very helpful advice about how to not get lost in all that was going on. You could tell how methodical he was about things to make sure that all things were being taken care of.
He was also there on Thursday, the day that they had weaned him from ventilator and removed the tube. He was also there later that day when they had to put it back in. This picture is the happy time from that day when the tube was removed.
After the of watching Chris be emergency re-intubated I was sitting over in the corner processing things. Once things had settled down, Ian came and gave me a cup of water and checked on me to make sure I was OK. It was a simple gesture, but meant the world to me. I'm sure being in the ICU they are used to seeing these things happen all the time, but he recognized how traumatic it likely was and offered comfort to me.
When he pulled out his phone because he couldn't find a flashlight and I made a joke about what we ever did before smart phones, we then had a nice conversation and I got to know a little bit more about him. I learned he is a big outdoors man and loves Montana.
From over in my corner of the ICU room I've had many opportunities to watch him as he will come in and look over all the monitors.
This afternoon Fred asked him if he could explain to us the CO2 and why they are tracking them. In addition to tracking his oxygen levels, they have done many blood tests and attached him to several things to track his C02. He gave us a great explanation, I understood a good portion of it. I was very impressed with his knowledge on just one aspect of patient care. He explained that most people's breathing is driven by their C02 levels and that most people have a C02 level around 40. When you usually have high C02 levels it affects your bodies ability to do many things. When we were admitted to the ER on Monday Chris's level was in the 80's. Because Chris has likely had a hard time breathing for quite some time, his body has adapted to the highly elevated C02 levels that it instead his body is driven to breath by his Oxygen levels. As well, high levels of C02 affect the pH of your blood. Keeping a careful balance of the oxygen they are administering is a very tricky, and Ian had to be persistent in what was in Chris's best interest when one of the respiratory specialists tried to adjust some settings.
Watching Chris today "write" his goodbye's to Ian broke my heart. He asked if he was sure he didn't want to work a double. When you find a great nurse, you sure do wish they could stay by your side 24/7. He then also asked him if he would sign a UoU hat. Hopefully we can make that wish happen.
He actually reminds me of one of my former employee's who if I recall correctly (if I'm wrong, sorry it's been a long week) is currently in or working towards nursing school. The same compassionate nature and methodical thought process. Hopefully one day James can make a difference in the like of people like Ian did in ours.
Thank-you again to all of the amazing nurses out there, it's a tough job!
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