Welcome to Nursing, My Name’s Covid

David Delaney

Description

A riveting, soul searching journey down the corridors of fate, where skill, passion and faith must walk hand in hand with exhaustion, despair and uncertainty. The behind the scenes look at the nursing home crisis during the pandemic.

“WELCOME TO NURSING, MY NAME’S COVID” follows the journey of a newly sober, novice nurse who begins his career one month before the pandemic. David Delaney is in recovery and needs to maintain next to perfect balance to maintain his sobriety when COVID hits his long term care facility. As a new nurse overcoming addiction we see how he responds to absolute pandemonium and chaos. A list of colorful characters and comical situations highlights his inspirational journey through the human condition, resiliency and spirituality.

Sujets

• Medical
• Médecine
• Nursing

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse
• Date de parution: 02 mars 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798823001335
• Langue: English

Extrait

Welcome to Nursing, My Name’s Covid
DAVID DELANEY


AuthorHouse™
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
Phone: [phone]
 
 
 
 
 
 
© 2023 David Delaney. All rights reserved.
 
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
 
Published by AuthorHouse 03/02/2023
 
ISBN: 979-8-8230-0134-2 (sc)
ISBN: 979-8-8230-0132-8 (hc)
ISBN: 979-8-8230-0133-5 (e)
 
 
 
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
Contents
Foreword
 
Chapter 1February 17 th , 2020
Chapter 2February 18 th , 2020
Chapter 3February 19 th
Chapter 4February/March
Chapter 5March 26 th
Chapter 6March 27 th
Chapter 7March 28 th
Chapter 8March 29 th
Chapter 9April 3 rd
Chapter 10April 4 th
Chapter 11April 5 th -April 15 th
Chapter 12April 16 th
Chapter 13April 17 th
Chapter 14April 18 th
Chapter 15April 19 th -May 25 th
Chapter 16May 26-July 1 st
Chapter 17July 2 nd -August 30 th
Chapter 18September
Chapter 19October
Chapter 20November
Chapter 21December
Chapter 22January
Chapter 23February 2021
 
March 2021
Gratuity List
Conclusion

Thank you.
A warm and special thanks to my family and friends who have supported me since Day 1 on this earth and continue to do so.
An incredible thanks to Peter and Katherine who supported me on this literary endeavor since the very beginning. Without their support and enthusiasm I’m not sure I could have finished it. Their encouragement meant the world to me. Team work works.
Dedication
This Novel is dedicated to Luna Wolf who made sure everyone else was served before serving herself.
This novel is in memory of all those we lost to the pandemic too soon. May they never be forgotten.
Foreword
David Delaney is a brave and resilient young man. He is a skilled and compassionate nurse who fiercely advocates for his patients and profession. He is loyal and devoted to his friends and family and his commitment to sobriety. Douglas embodies a life transformed and is living proof that if you put in the work, true recovery is possible.
In his first book, Welcome to Nursing, My Name is COVID, David tells his story of being a newly-sober rookie nurse who is just beginning to define himself as a professional when COVID-19 Pandemic strikes. David can translate his insight from sober living into coping strategies for managing a worldwide crisis personally and professionally. David is able to analyze and change his thinking using the techniques he has picked up in the Alcohol Support Groups that he faithfully attends, choosing to find hope and positivity under dire and challenging situations. During the year of the pandemic, David comes into his own as a nurse and finds hope for the hopeless nursing home residents. He can help them overcome their personal struggles by relating them to his journey from addiction to recovery. David finds a way to inspire and motivate his elderly companions in their arduous cycle of lock downs and quarantines.
Enjoy this captivating read whether you or someone you know is in recovery; whether you or someone you know work in health care; or whether you enjoy humor or drama. There is something for everyone! Welcome to Nursing, My Name’s COVID is a refreshing and honest read with a positive and hopeful message that the world needs right now.
I sincerely welcome you to the “frontlines”.
Sophia Koury, RN, BSN
Chapter 1
February 17 th , 2020
“Starting as a new nurse is just like swimming up river, with no arms, or legs…blind folded” - David Delaney
My name is David Delaney and I’m an alcoholic. It was my first day off of orientation as a new nurse—an LPN to be specific. Licensed Practical Nurse. I graduated nursing school in 2013 but was an alcoholic and the Board of Nursing knew it, and decided not to grant me my license. My license was flagged because of two DWIs. With the option to enter a program of sobriety and drug testing, I chose to continue drinking and racked up a third DWI. Six years later, after the third DWI and facing a ten year suspended driver’s license, along with a six month jail sentence, I decided I should stop drinking. I called the BON and asked to enroll in their sobriety program. They accepted my enrollment and I signed a contract stating I would not use alcohol or drugs, and that I would pay the $5,000 in yearly fees and costs.
After nearly two years sober and a year and a half of compliance with the Board of Nursing’s sobriety program, I began my career as a nurse. I would be in this sobriety program for a total of five years.
I got my nursing license in November of 2019 and then got hired a few months later. This would be my first job as a nurse. I was a sober alcoholic and a nurse. A good nurse at that. In addition to being a nurse, I would find that my new title would also encompass the following roles and jobs: friend, social worker, waiter, bus boy, maid, detective, actor, entertainer, life coach, secretary, body guard, security guard, peace maker advocate, translator, massage therapist, foot rubber, water boy, chef, handy man, electronic technician, and much more.
The facility that hired me was hiring anyone with a nursing license and a heartbeat. No experience, no connections, no problem. My interview was more of a recruitment and the orientation I received was nothing of the sort and prepared me in no way whatsoever for the daily grind I would endure. On top of the immense workload each nurse had each day, the pay wasn’t that great. It was twenty-two dollars and change per hour… this was three dollars less than the state average for LPN’s in New Jersey… two years before! No wonder no one wanted to work here.
Each nurse had anywhere from twenty to thirty residents on their unit on any given day, and their primary purpose was to give medication to them all and keep them safe. All of these resident’s medications would be found on a four-and-a-half foot tall by two-and-a-half wide medication cart on wheels. The surface on the top of the cart was about two feet by sixteen inches. It was a flat but rough surface that held a fat burgundy-colored binder called the MAR (Medication Administration Record). We would prepare the medications on the flat surface and then sign each resident’s flow sheets with a pen, legally documenting that the medications had been administered. Yes, it was 2020, and we were still operating on paper, seven years after a federal law was passed that required facilities, hospitals and doctor’s offices to transition to electronic charting or be heftily fined. The only computer found in this facility was in the nursing station on the second floor. Anything that had to be printed or entered in the computer was relayed to someone—usually a supervisor who could access the computer and take care of it.
To the right of the cart there was a sliding tray that would come out from under the top surface and hold the bright red narcotic binder. Directly below that was the sharps container mounted to the side of the cart. Directly below that was a small trash bin, also mounted to the side of the cart. The very top drawer was only an inch and a half deep and held the stock medications, eye drops, nasal sprays, insulins—all the unimportant stuff. Well, except for the insulin. Okay, it was all important. Below the top drawer were three equal sized twelve inch deep drawers that held the resident’s specific medications in “bingo cards.” The nurse would pull out each card, check the medication and the dose, and pop the pill through the foil in the back of the card into a medicine cup, never touching the medication. Some residents had thirty to forty cards. It could be very time-consuming, depending on how many diagnoses a resident had. It could also be a real mess if the floor didn’t have a ‘regular’ nurse looking after and keeping up the cart. The cart was your best friend or your worst enemy.
I worked the second shift—the 3PM-11PM shift. It was, in my opinion, easier because there were less people in the building, less distractions, less bullshit. The day shift had to put up with social workers, physical therapists, recreation therapists, family visits, nurse practitioners and doctors. I’m sure I missed a few. Second shift was a little smoother and a little calmer, although the dementia residents would begin sundowning right around dinner and that presented its own challenges. Sundowning refers to the time of day when a resident with dementia starts to lose it. When the sun begins to go down and evening comes, it’s like Jekyll and Hide, and its actually quite fascinating unless you’re the one legally responsible for said subjects. They could be pleasant and somewhat coherent during the day, but once the evening came, their wits went out the window. They became increasingly confused, agitated, and cranky. For some dementia residents their potential for violence might increase during the evenings. Luckily I was only twenty-nine. And in shape. And sober. I found out that the only way to truly prevent our residents from falling or eloping was to have eyes on them every five to