“What is it with you?”
Submitted by Kathleen Beyerman
“I’ve got a fainter here!” I call over my sister’s head to the flight attendant. My sister is sitting in the aisle seat, I am in the middle, and my new patient is sitting by the window. He has just announced to me that he doesn’t feel well and thinks he may faint. Sure enough I look at him and his color is similar to a Boston street after a snow storm before the plows are out – white as a sheet. At that point I had to put down the JONA I was reading and move into clinician gear.
So back goes his headrest. “Breathe slowly and deeply through your mouth” I gently admonish him. “What’s your name? I’m Kathleen.” Ever try to do a patient assessment while strapped into a seatbelt squished between 2 people miles in the air? That belt had to go so I could focus better on him. The flight attendant gives me a damp paper towel. A nice gesture, but not exactly what I wanted in a medical emergency. Just the same I apply it to Paul’s forehead like it was a piece of medical equipment – sure to help. I can’t get a radial pulse and his carotid pulse comes in around 50 beats per minute. I am thinking – are we the best this guy has got? My sister, Kristy, (also a nurse) and I are Paul’s healthcare team. The answer is – yep, under the circumstances we are. Kristy gets some orange juice from the flight attendant and I get him to drink it. Slowly he begins to look better.
After he seemingly recovers I point to the article that I had been reading. It had the word “nurses” in it. I tell Paul that Kristy and I are nurses. He smiles – “Ah, good passengers to have!”
As we leave the plane Kristy asks me “What is it with you?” I know what she means. She says “a man cardiac arrests in the Berkley Performance Center (1), a woman falls off a mule going down the Grand Canyon (2), a woman needs rescuing from a car fire by the side of the road (3), and a man has a heart attack in the flight to Florida (4).” All of these are situations in which I needed to go into “nursing drive.” She seems to think it is risky traveling with me. I’d say “the fainter” thinks otherwise.
References
- Beyerman, K. (1991). No, not now. In W.H. Hull (Ed). Nurse: Hearts and Hands (pp. 79-80). Edina, MN: William H. Hull.
- Beyerman, K. (2006). Bud, Betty and Black Jack. Advance for Nurses, 6 (3), 11
- Beyerman, K. (2004). Highway nursing. Nursing Spectrum, 8 (6), 22.
- Beyerman, K. (2005). In case I need you. Advance for Nurses, 5 (16), 11.