Reflection 94

Should note this down before I forget,

Yesterday we were short one RN (Registered Nurse) so it was a bit of a stress, to put it lightly. I was, once, left alone in charge of the door and nurse's station. Visitor times start at half six, and it was around 6:10pm. Six until half past is what's called a 'Protected Mealtime' which was put in place by the NHS to make sure patients have the opportunity to eat in peace without interruption. I was, therefore, obliged to let nobody in, but there were visitors. I contacted one of the staff nurses who was very busy and said the visitor at the door had special permission to come in. So let them in I do. But there's another visitor there by the time I get back. I inform them both that I only have permission to let one in.

The visitor denied access proceeded to get quite irate with me before storming off. Later I found out he had special permission, too, but I wasn't told this. Furthermore he didn't try to explain the situation, just decided to give me a large swathe of attitude. This made me feel somewhat threatened (although, in all honesty, it takes a lot more than that to shake me, especially since I was only - oh, let me think - doing my job). These are the risks nurses take, even from visitors to patients, but I wouldn't, in hindsight, change what I did. I was ready to be reasonable, but it seemed this visitor was happy to become angry and storm off this little to and fro.