Nursing shortage is happening all over the healthcare system. That also affects us in correctional setting. When some coworkers call in sick, the ripple effect starts right away and affects just every duty we have to perform or accomplish in every shift. We have little man power to finish gigantic tasks.
This past weekend is one of those days when there was only a few of us. Many inmates wanted to be seen middle of the night, that even a minor symptom, to them, felt like an emergency. The doctors' orders were piled up high on some of the bins. It makes it even harder when the system we are using in the computer goes down.
It's easy to get frustrated. It's easy to get angry. It's easy to commit mistakes with decision making. But if we commit all of our ways to God, nothing will go wrong. Proverbs 16:3 says, " Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established." It is the Lord Who gives me strength at nights like those...One of my coworkers told me, "You never seem to stop working. Take a break! Everyone else seems lazy and slow but you just keep on working."
I told her about Colossians 3:23, " Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men." That's what gives me strength - to know that the Lord is watching us 24/7, no matter where we are.
Yes, the night was chaotic and overwhelmed the medical staff with unscheduled sick calls and doctors' orders, with man downs necessitating urgent care, with numerous diabetics, some who needed their morning insulin doses before eating breakfasts...But at the break of dawn, tired as we [nurses] were, slumped on our seats in front of every computer monitors, next to phones that constantly rang before, with achy backs or necks, we get our satisfaction to see that we had survived that storm! The bins were empty and all of the doctors' orders were put in, all the unscheduled sick calls were seen and treated and given appropriate medications, all questions were answered from whoever rang our phones...I was tired and felt beaten! But I knew God was the One Who gave me an extraordinary strength to overcome these trials! "I know that I can do everything through Christ Who gives me the strength."[Philippians 4:13].
After the storm, the sun does come out...
