#1 Nurse

To travel all over the world collecting stories from nurses as long as they are either funny, inspiring or memorable. Also if you have examples of funny or interesting chart notes I'd like to hear them.

This pen was given to me by a patient's family member after he had spent a very wild night loopy on pain and sleeping medication. I had watched this mild mannered, soft spoken man turn into a banshee, pulling out tubes, screaming and hallucinating. I reassured the wife that once the medication wore off he'd be okay, but until then he would have to be restrained. Clearly upset and her nerves shot I convinced her to go home, I'd call if any changes happened. Well, for the next couple hours it was a fight trying to keep him in bed, trying to keep IV lines and oxygen tubes in place until finally--mercifully he fell asleep. About 6 in the morning (one more hour left in my shift) the nurse's aid that was sitting with him in the room calls to the desk, "Mr. So-and-so wants to be untied." Great, I moan as I drag my feet to his room. As I peek in the door, wondering what horror scene awaited me, my patient looks at me with clear, focused eyes and calmly asks me, "Um, can I be untied now?" After assessing that he was indeed back to his alert, oriented self I untie him and ask, "You have no idea what happened last night do you?" Slowly he shakes his head no. But you could tell by the look on his face that anytime you wake up unable to recall the events of the prior night and tied to a bed by strange women -- it wasn't a good night :^) His wife was so glad the next morning that the medication had worn off and he was back to normal self she bought me this pen as a gift. I decided to turn it into a TB to share the apprectiation with a profession that is very UNDER-appreciated. :^)