Creepy

On the last day of our Tagudin rotation, things went so creepy I can't imagine myself coming back again.

It was the very start of our shift when the staff nurse endorsed the IV level of my patient at 250 ml. level and regulated it at KVO (Keep Vein Open) until the doctor on duty will do the rounds. After the endorsement, we went to our patients to establish rapport and do morning care. I double checked my patient's IVF and indeed, it was on KVO. Another patient's watcher approached me and asked if I could help her since she cannot read clearly what the doctor has written. Since my patient's IVF is still somewhere 248 ml level and is regulated at KVO, I am confident that a walk into the pharmacy, 3 meters away will not leave my patient's IVF consumed. I accompanied the mother who was asking for help and returned back as soon as she bought the medicine. One of my groupmates hurriedly told me that my patient's IVF had gone dry.

"Lenin!!!"
"Bakit??"
"Yung IV ng pasyente mo nag-run dry!!"
"Ha??Eh panu magra-run dry yun eh 245 cc pa nung iniwan ko tsaka naka-KVO pa."
"Tignan mo kasi."

And I hurriedly went into my patient's room where I saw my CI changing my patient's IV bottle. She stood there smiling at me as if nothing happened. I'm sweating profusely like a jogger. I was expecting my CI to let me prepare a letter of explanation but nope she didn't. We finished tickling the bubbles up the IV tubing when she told us never to leave our patients for a while.

"Wag niyo muna iiwan pasyente niyo."
"Bakit ma'am"
"Basta"

Seems like our CI new about something. I tried to asked my patient's mother what really happened.

"Ginalaw niyo po ba ito?"(me pertaining to the IV regulator)
"Hindi."
"Itinayo niyo po ba anak ninyo?"
"Hindi rin. Nakahiga naman xa hanggang sa dumating ka."

Perplexed, I sat beside her trying to figure what's the mystery behind the IV rundown. I cannot believe that a 245 cc IV can run dry within 60 seconds.

"Nung iniwan mo kami ng anak ko, marami pa yung dextrose. Tapos dumating yung kapatid ko at nakita ko siya sa pintuan kaya pinapasok ko siya. Pag-upo ko sa kama ng anak ko, tinignan ko ulit yung dextrose niya at nagulat ako kasi ubos na."

And I remembered, right before our Tagudin duty, hearsays about a ghost staff nurse was very rampant. I laughed about it at first, but I didn't think she will strike me for real. Right after I recalled those ghost stories, another patient in the same room cried and her mother told us that blood from the IV site was having a back flow. That was the scariest part. The blood almost filled half a quarter of the IV tubing.

Ughh!!Still gives me the creeps whenever I recall that incident. Sheeeesshh!!