Ok I get the Nurse shift change now

Something about being in ICU has frustrated me....well, several things but I'm only going to talk about this one, so don't distract me will ya?! 

There are many studies about ICU Psychosis and the negative effects of being in ICU on a patient. Several of them list ways to make it easier on the patient such as family support but oh don't even get me started on that one after Covid, trust me you don't want to hear that argument...I don't think I can be nice about it. 

Another is keeping the same staff, and not switching nurses as often seems to help patients. And, I have to admit that it can be VERY difficult having a new nurse every 12 hours. I know they get the charts, notes, and updates from the previous nurses but there are always things that they won't know from those. Always something to update them on...and quite frankly, sometimes it's difficult to convince them that I know my husband better because I understand they have the very in depth knowledge of his anxiety levels for 3 whole entire 12 hour shifts now....but see I have the knowledge of 23 YEARS, plus almost 24/7 since being in the hospital. Not to mention that there are some staff where personalities conflict, etc. Man, there's this one guy I want to do a Tik Tok on where the door opens and I growl. I just DO NOT trust him in the least. Everything in me says he's bad news when he's around, my skin crawls. 

Case in point...just now while writing this I had to literally tell the RT and Nurse "NONONO, sorry but you'll have to wait to put his High Flow on", after telling them once already they'd need to wait for it to warm up because it was turned off and yet they continued to begin putting him on it. Earlier the RT was in here and turned it off, I explained they'd been leaving it on because it takes about 10-15 minutes to warm up and he would not wear it if it was too cold. He argued that it doesn't take that long to warm up because it's a heating plate and the thermometer was up by the nose, so it's warmer down in the chamber much earlier. Therefore, they proceeded to ignore me until I got strong in my words and insisted they wait. Here's what I do know. I know that if that temperature doesn't read right around 29-31 Scott is complaining it's too hot or too cold. I know that if it's around 18 as it was the moment they wanted to put it on that he would rip it right off and be without oxygen (which he's done before and it crashed him almost to the point of needing a Vent). I know that to be that uncomfortable really raises his anxiety levels and he's difficult to get calmed back down. I know this because I've seen it and dealt with it NUMEROUS times these past 36 days, where I've been here 24/7 for over half of that. 

I digress. 

Back to the subject....I finally realize why, even though the research shows it easier on the patient, they still switch nurses to other stations after 2-3 days at one. In comes Alex. Alex is a gentle, tall, nurse who hit it off with Scott. He was attentive, positive, and liked to talk guns with Scott here and there. Topping it all off, he wore a plastic head shield instead of a mask because certain masks do not fit his face (the ones they have to wear with active covid patients). I know this head gear was a pain for Alex in many ways, but for us it was a relief to see his face. 

Today Alex was at another station, and I joked with him that he abandoned us. When he asked how Scott was, I told him it's a totally different scene than he last saw him. I updated him that he had a pneumothorax, blood clots, heart issues, UTI, etc and that while his chest xray looked better for the first time, it is like his body is giving up. Twice Alex teared up and couldn't talk. 

Ahhhh I get it now. They switch them out for the Nurses, not for the patients. It's for their mental health because they get attached and it's difficult to lose the patients they've been caring for. 

I wonder though, if that's the best thing even for them. I wonder if it would be better for them to connect and love, rather than not be able to give of that part of themselves. Ponder it.