The two first nights that I spent in the new tower (the unit opened 3 days ago), I was so-o-o-o- lucky to be Relief Charge nurse. Yikes! Both nights would have been considered crazy busy, even in the old unit, but now we're running around like Bob the chicken, who survived decapitated for 8 months.Naturally it got me thinking about the real state of affairs, that we're in. Easy enough: new tower, new equipment, same old jaded crew of over-experienced nurses. Oh, to top it all off, new stuff started breaking with "real" nursing care going on; Go figure!

Like A Lemming

Returning for one more night
Seems a little crazy, for sure,
But we are the answer people
Offering the cheap thrills cure;
A great deal of frustration and angst
Is just water beneath the bridge,
Although sometimes I feel like a Lemming
Being forced over the next plunging ridge.

Long hallways, new closets, and storage rooms
Yes, plenty of places to hide,
Maybe it's better, than it looked from the start
Like a husband reviewing a new bride.

Admissions, on top of admissions
Rapid response, Code Blue and the like,
If you do this for twenty-plus years
Why, it's just like riding a bike;
Careening down the side of Pike's Peak
On a single-track, dark and rainy night,
Survival means, bloodied and bruised
Rejoicing with the mornings first light.

Taking on the role of Relief-Charge-Nurse
I'm paid an extra one-buck-per-hour,
After just two nights this week
It felt like a slap on the cheek,
The smallest of sweeteners, turned sour.

Topping it off, the bosses decided
That Ward-Clerks are at best, obsolete,
For no-bucks-an-hour, the Registered Nurse
Can add all those tasks to their sheet,
Along with the endless new regulatory rules
"Just one more thing" added each week,
It's easy to predict, the next numbing edict
But quite frankly, we're ready to shriek.

Two hundred and twenty million dollars
Give or take a few clams in the mix,
Sister Euphemia is gambling on goodwill
To support all of her magical tricks,
Showing a good face to the community
With a shiny new chapel to boot,
Asking God for obedient employees
And extreme unction for the ones she can shoot.

Fibril_late;
12/29/09