Personal Identity In Nursing

Personal Identity Paper
College of Saint Elizabeth

Personal Identity Paper
On a normal day on the Labor & Delivery floor it can be slow--until it's not. I work on a unit that averages 5-10 deliveries in 24 hours. I have worked shifts with only one delivery and others where the nurses are running around the entire day with no breaks. I've even worked shifts where there were eight cesarean sections in 12 hours. I've had shifts where we have started the day with one room full and only had one room empty four hours later, and vice versa. It's so hard to compare L&D to any other type of nursing; the closest comparison would probably be Emergency Room nursing. There are no scheduled meds, and we are often looking
I walked onto the floor to find out I was the charge nurse for the day, often referred to as the “unit gofer”. To hospital workers, day shift charge nurses will usually take a small load of “easier” patients and assign other patients, do various paperwork, and help with admits. That day had been business as usual until about 6:00 pm when I received a frantic phone call directly from the emergency room of a 24 year old eight month pregnant Hispanic woman being brought into the resuscitation room of the emergency department with an estimated time of arrival of eight minutes. The ER nurse reported that she had an established cardiac arrest of ten minutes and was found unconscious; no other history could be obtained. Full basic life support had been present since arrest; initial application of advanced protocols had not re-established circulation while in the field. Immediately, it had become an all hands on deck situation. I called for my coworkers to have our operating room opened and prepped. The resuscitation cart was ready for the neonate. The neonatologist, anesthesiologist and attending obstetrician as well as our resident were informed of their arrival. Just as I hung up the phone, I heard the sirens from the ambulance coming and the pages over the intercom for the Labor and Delivery team to report to the ER. Without hesitation, I ran down with surgical instruments, sutures and lap sponges to a room filled
She had informed me that she had an extensive neurological history, which included a craniotomy, a past aneurysm, and several other procedures. I saw the family in the waiting room and felt it was my duty to introduce myself and tell them how sorry I was. I visited the NICU and was present for the transfer of the newborn to another hospital for more specialized treatment. I found out two days later that the baby had died but I felt given the circumstances we did everything we could for him. I visited that family and patient for many weeks to follow. In the end, she lived, but with what quality of life? She had left sided paralysis, a feeding tube and had a tracheostomy tube. Though she listened to commands, I wasn’t sure how much she could comprehend. When I went to go visit her one day, I saw that her room was occupied by someone else. The worst had come to my mind. I asked the nurse what happened she informed me the patient was transferred to an acute rehabilitation center for further