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The Night Shift
1988. Glasgow Royal Infirmary, young lad, drunk, “get tae fk, get aff me ya bastards!” face slashed (bottle/knife?) skin flapping, pinned down by police and porters, blood spraying up the curtains, on the docs white coat. “Keep still!!” My job, apply pressure (try not to get stitched to mental boy in the process) fingers scarily…
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Chapter 12. Womens Theatre
We take modern surgery for granted. Anaesthetists render us unconscious, surgeons make deft incisions, cauterise, snip, scrape, biopsy, repair. We wake without remembering a thing. A miracle of modern medicine. Not a miracle of course but the result of many highly qualified individuals coming together, an array of pharmaceuticals, specialized equipment and instruments. I often…
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A Difficult Day
The morning starts with a bang. Doctor’s gather in the hallway, rainbow lorikeets coming to roost. Bedside, the red button is pushed, “don’t worry M…, lots of people will arrive soon, you need some extra help.” Blue curtains whooshed back, “Need me to call?” “Yep” A seamless dance begins, crash-trolley in, furniture back, medics swoop,…
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Another Day At The Office
Recently had the delightful task in the postnatal ward of weighing the newborn babies going home Wheeling them to the scales one at a time in fish bowl hospital cots Quickly, gently, wrangling them out of clothes and nappy Talking to them , shushing them, apologising for ma cold hands Placing them atop the scales…
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Chapter 18. An Accident
The day I had the accident it was heaving down with rain. I was heading to the GP with my youngest lad to see if he needed antibiotics for a painful ear. Driving uphill on a familiar straight stretch of road, down through winding rainforest, a route i’d taken hundreds of times before, was very…
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A Shift In The ED
Nurses learn to navigate the back and forth between the world of hospital and the world of everyday norms, one minute dealing with intense human vulnerability the next heading home to family, to the normal domestic routine. We learn to make the switch (hopefully), not bring work home, out of head onto paper helps me…
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Chapter 8. My Birth Stories
Both my births were rare in today’s world. Spontaneous labours, no vaginal examinations, no drugs, no one touching me, nothing DONE to me. Afterwards (both times,) I felt like superwoman, “if I can do THAT, I can do anything.”
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Violence
Nurses never know what the next shift will bring, we try to turn up well-rested, caffeinated, ready to hit the ground running.
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Floods, Mudslides and Roadblocks Feb 2022
I live in a gorgeous semi rural village north of the city, a 30-50 minute commute to work depending on time of day. It’s been raining here for days and days culminating this past weekend in the worst flooding event for years , records smashed in my state of QLD, there’s been half a years…
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Chapter 16. Complications
Usually pregnancy is a joyful time but for some women things go wrong and hospital admission is needed. Separated from family, friends and support network, stuck in hospital, often miles from home, joy is replaced by anxiety and fear For some women …..
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The Midwife/Nurse Hobbyfarmer 