Silver IS the new gold!

Now that the 2014 Olympics are officially over, i hate to tell you that Silver is the new Gold! Well... at least in my book. That's because I'm really talking about Silver 11... or the 11th floor of the Silverstein building at HUP aka Penn Medicine... whose staff i fell in love with and are worthy of receiving a medal! They get all the screamers. :o)

Heliport view

On all three of my recent hospital admissions, i somehow got lucky and spent some time on Silver 11. And after spending the night in the ER twice, it was definitely an upgrade. Complete with an amazing view of the city (shown in my last post from my father) and the heliport. The bathroom... nicer than the bathroom at my home. Was i in the hospital... or a hotel?

Sunbathing in the penthouse
of Silver 11

Here's a story from my first day on Silver 11:
"Nurse, NURSE, NUUUURRRRSSSE"... a woman from the neighboring room screamed. As her calls at first went unanswered, i debated if i, as a nurse, should get up to assist this poor old woman... she was after-all...screaming bloody murder. Luckily though, a staff member came to her attention, and then i heard her say in the sweetest little old lady voice, "i need a spoon."

Nope, i'm at a the hospital. But there are times when people forget they are in a hospital, and they think it's a hotel. Like when a family refuses vital signs on a potentially sick patient. Or being paged at 8:01am for a medication that was due at 8:00am. I know people mean well and just want the best for the patient, but us nurses are balancing the needs of all of our patients. My favorite though is when we receive a page to go to a patient's room while in the middle of something important. And the page is for a "present" ...which is actually a dirty diaper. Real examples, but us nurses just grin and bear it all.

Being a patient in the Intensive Care Unit (on Founders 9) also gave me an even greater appreciation for ICU nurses. Whenever we have an emergency situation with a patient, i find so much relief to know that the patient is transferred off the unit... to the ICU where they can better manage the patient. And these nurses are balancing the needs of the most critical patients. In one room, your patient might be dying... and then to compose yourself and walk into your other patient's room... with a smile on your face... it is difficult... especially if the other room is paging you for one of those special "presents" :o). Well... i didn't want to page them for anything. Not even for pain meds... i was too traumatized by the hour long code that took place next door.

Well... no matter if it's Silver or Gold or Bronze for that matter... you nurses all deserve a medal!

lots of love for all nurses...
& extra sugar to the staff of Silver 11, Jill, Vic, Zelmo, & Rose... Robyn in the MICU & Sam on Radvin 6

                                                         little lisa lollipop

                                                         P.S. Happy 1 year anniversary to the blog!!