Chicken Soup for the Nurse's Soul by Jack Canfield Read Free Book Online Page A

sample into the collection tubes, I noticed the unusual thickness of it. When I tested it with a dip stick, I was shocked at the extremely high protein content.
    “Are you sure this is your urine sample?” I questioned. “This almost resembles egg whites.”
    “Yes, I distinctly remember placing it in the refrigerator in the bottom right-hand corner. Oh! Oh, no!” She wailed. “I’ve made a terrible mistake. Don’t use that. I’ll get you a fresh sample.”
    Not wishing to further embarrass the lady, I asked no more questions. But as I opened the door to leave her home, I heard her removing pies from the oven and the grinding sound of the garbage disposal.
    No lemon meringue pie that night!
    Donna McDonnall
     

Reprinted by permission of John Wise, R.N.

Codes for the Holidays
     
    ’Twas the night before Christmas and in SICU
    All the patients were stirring, the nurses were, too.
    Some Levophed hung from an IMED with care
    In hopes that a blood pressure soon would be there.
    One patient was resting all snug in his bed
    While visions—from Versed—danced in his head.
    I, in my scrubs, with flowsheet in hand,
    Had just settled down to chart the care plan.
    Then from room 17 there arose such a clatter
    We sprang from the station to see what was the matter.
    Away to the bedside we flew like a flash,
    Saved the man from falling, with restraints from the stash.
    “Do you know where you are?” one nurse asked while tying;
    “Of course! I’m in France in a jail, and I’m dying!”
    Then what to my wondering eyes should appear?
    But a heart rate of 50, the alarm in my ear.
    The patient’s face paled, his skin became slick
    And he said in a moment, “I’m going to be sick!”
    Someone found the Inapsine and injected a port,
    Then ran for a basin, as if it were sport.
    His heart rhythm quieted back to a sinus,
    We soothed him and calmed him with old-fashioned kindness.
    And then in a twinkling we hear from room 11
    First a plea for assistance, then a swearing to heaven.
    As I drew in my breath and was turning around,
    Through the unit I hurried to respond to the sound.
    “This one’s having chest pain,” the nurse said and then
    She gave her some nitro, then morphine and when
    She showed not relief from IV analgesia
    Her breathing was failing: time to call anesthesia.
    “Page Dr. Wilson, or May, or Banoub!
    Get Dr. Epperson! She ought to be tubed!”
    While the unit clerk paged them, the monitor showed
    V-tach and low pressure with no pulse: “Call a code!”
    More rapid than eagles, the code team they came.
    The leader took charge and he called drugs by name:
    “Now epi! Now lido! Some bicarb and mag!
    You shock and you chart it! You push med! You bag!”
    And so to the crash cart, the nurses we flew
    With a handful of meds, and some dopamine, too!
    From the head of the bed, the doc gave his call:
    “Resume CPR!” So we worked one and all.
    Then Doc said no more, but went straight to his work,
    Intubated the patient, then turned with a jerk.
    While placing his fingers aside of her nose,
    And giving a nod, hooked the vent to the hose.
    The team placed an art-line and a right triple-lumen.
    And when they were through, she scarcely looked human:
    When the patient was stable, the doc gave a whistle.
    A progress note added as he wrote his epistle.
    But I heard him exclaim ere he strode out of sight,
    “Merry Christmas to all! But no more codes for tonight!”
    Jamie L. Beeley
Submitted by Nell Britton
     

Christmas Magic
     
W hen we accept tough jobs as a challenge and wade into them with joy and enthusiasm, miracles can happen.
Harry S. Truman
     
    I wish I could tell you that the whole thing happened because I’m caring and unselfish, but that wouldn’t be true. It was 1979, and I had just moved back to Wisconsin from Colorado because I missed my family and Denver wages were terrible. I took a job at a hospice in Milwaukee and found my niche working with the patients and families. As the season changed