When I am afraid.

摘要

Do you ever find it scary to be a nurse? I do. In the past year I have had two MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphyhcoccus aureus) infections, the second being worse than the first, with systemic symptoms and a nasty allergic reaction to Bactrim. Three of my family members ended up with MRSA, two of whom also had significant infections. As nurses, we've all cared for patients who are HIV or hepatitis C positive. We get ourTB skin tests every year to make sure we haven't been exposed to tuberculosis. Besides infections, the patients I work with in behavioral health can be threatening in their manic, psychotic, delirious, or confused states. I've been threatened, yelled at, cussed out, had things thrown at me. I've cared for patients with head and body lice, unkempt, covered in excrement, in the worst state of degradation. We all have horror stories we could tell about scary work situations.