A Nurse’s Day Never Stops
It’s 7:30 a.m., and the day-shift nurses are in a semicircle as they receive a group briefing from the out-going charge nurse before starting a shift that won’t end until 8 p.m.
The nurse assigned for the story is Sharon Eusebio, who has eight years as an RN and six years before that as an LVN; as such, she is one of the most experienced nurses on the floor.
She works in 5S, Bldg. 500, of the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center. A number of the patients come here after surgery, and it’s one of the few locations in the building that can measure the heart.
She shares a cheery smile and a surprising amount of warmth for someone she just met. Her voice and manner of speaking exude happy energy, paying tribute to the Filipina singer she was named after. She promptly states that she is training a new nurse as a preceptor, a role she’s had since 6 months into her VA career, so there will be another person with her.
After the group brief, Eusebio meets with each of the nurses that cared for one of her five patients overnight, learning what medications have been given, which have been refused, and the general demeanor of each patient.
After that, she sends her training nurse to check vitals while she cleans her mobile nursing station and then she spends a little time on the computer checking the orders for each patient to see if there are any new orders.
It’s now approximately 8 a.m., and it’s time to start med-pass. Nurses generally have four to five patients at a time on this floor, and they have until 10:30 a.m. to complete their medication pass. The time seems extremely generous until the medication pass is seen in action.
Eusebio takes her trainee with her to the room where all the medications are stored, to draw the medications she needs for her first patient, a process she’ll repeat for all her patients. They are drawn individually to prevent mixing of medications and stored in the mobile nursing station until she’s ready to distribute to the patient.
She then proceeds to her first patient and showers him with all the concern and care one would hope for from a nurse. Some of her patients are polite, some are energetic, some are withdrawn, and some are cantankerous in the extreme, yet all receive the best healing energy that Sharon can bring to their meeting.
“I really like helping people, and it’s really fulfilling to see how much they improve over the weeks and when they finally get to go home,” said Eusebio. “Sometimes their family needs a little break, and if my presence gives them a little break, a little hope, I love it.”
Medication pass includes providing pills, both whole and ground up, depending on the patient, injections, and IV fed. Meanwhile she is talking with them about how they’re feeling, if they ate all their breakfast, if there’s anything in particular that is bothering them. Often this is followed up with Eusebio reaching out to the patient’s doctor or one of the specialists involved in their care to see about specific medications.
Disruptions are also common, when another nurse brings a patient’s concern to her attention, or a patient is feeling particularly vulnerable at a given time, requiring her to redirect her attention for a time before returning to her patient or moving to the next one. It’s also common for the patients she is currently with to want to share a bit of their story with the nurse, or anyone else who is near and willing to listen.
It's now 10:30 a.m. and the floor has some good news, one of the patients is being discharged today. He has been at the hospital for his current stay since September and has expressed that he’s been eager to leave for some time, along with displaying some anxious behavior while waiting for his wife to arrive.
Eusebio takes some time to prepare the patient for discharge, before doing rounds at 11:30 a.m. to check the blood sugar of her diabetic patients before they eat their noon meal. She won’t have her lunch until around 2 p.m.
After checking blood sugar, Eusebio has the opportunity to take a 15-minute break before returning to her desk to continue discharging the patient. The next med pass begins at noon, with another taking place at 4 p.m., with medication passes comprising the majority of her 12-hour shift.
At around 1 p.m., the patient’s wife arrives, and after gathering his things and getting medication directions from a pharmacist, he leaves to a chorus of cheers from all the healthcare providers in his wing; it’s a great feeling when a Veteran is able to leave with his health restored.
“I like working at the VA because I have family members in the Navy and I feel like it’s a way to give back to my country,” Eusebio said. “The Veterans, they worked so hard and sacrificed a lot for us, and here at the VA we can see how it affected them, so if it helps them, it makes me happy.”
In addition to the normal duties a nurse provides on a given day, they also take rotations as a charge nurse.
Charge nurses are responsible for patient assignments for upcoming shifts, ensuring safe practices within the unit, ensuring staffing for upcoming shifts, checking the medication refrigeration temps for those medicines that require it, inspecting equipment, keeping hallways and emergency exit are clear of clutter, and that the unit infrastructure is working properly, among other things. They do all this while also being on hand to assist the other nurses as needed.
Eusebio appreciates all the assistance she receives from her teammates.
“I love with my team! We have a great manager and assistant manager and coworkers,” said Eusebio. “It’s really helpful to go through this together for 13 hours a day, 3-4 days a week, and have someone understand what you’re going through; I really consider them my second family.”
She encourages anyone considering becoming a nurse to do it.
“Go for it, go to school, go get your license and come work for us. It’s really fulfilling to help other people,” said Eusebio. “But you gotta really love what you do.”
Nurses have a great impact on a hospital’s operations.
“The nurses at VA Greater Los Angeles a are testament to the values of our profession and the resilience needed to make a difference,” said Michael Simmons, Associate Director, Patient Care Services, and Chief Nurse Executive. “You are the heart and soul of our healthcare system, tirelessly caring for others and positively impacting the lives of countless individuals.”
Nurses work non-stop to ensure that everyone’s loved ones are cared for when people are unable to do it for themselves. Take time to thank the nurses in your life for all that they do to help make the world a better place.