"Don't Worry, I've Got This"

The five of us stood in a close circle. Three nurses and two nursing students. I was so glad the pandemic of 2020 was finally in the rearview mirror on the highway of life and things were starting to get back to normal. As the only one of the nurses who’d been on this unit for more than a minute, I was all too used to the predictable morning routine. Also as the only one of the nurses who'd been on this floor for more than a minute, I was in charge today. My other two compadres, Stacy and Maddie, were new to the chronically understaffed shit show also known as the orthopedic overflow/medical/telemetry floor at Tropical Palms Medical Center. The one thing I could say about this place was that it never got boring.

Stacy was my age and had recently transferred from another one of our facilities while Maddie was fresh out of the oven. I mean nursing school. The two students, Josie and Carla were interning on our unit for another few months. They were already at that point where I could count of them to pick up the slack and I dared not go to the place in my brain that had to think about staffing after they were gone.

We were two-thirds of the way through the same thing that took place every morning at 07:30am. Report from night staff? Check. Overpriced but amazing coffee from the cafe downstairs? Abso-friggen-lutely. It was August in Florida, so I'd say 100 degrees in the shade give or take. But you could count on the inside of this place to be Fall in New England type chilly, so I held my hot coffee in both hands to stay warm.

There was just one thing left to do. It was time to malinger briefly at the nursing station to discuss current events, which was code for any gossip floating around the halls of this hospital. I waited for someone to start.

“The new nurse manager on telemetry is a real asshole,” Stacy said. "I just ran into him downstairs and he said he's transferring patients to us. Who does he think he is?”

And we were off. But not in the direction I wanted to go.

“I saw him at orientation a few weeks ago and I think he’s hot,” Maddie said.

“You think everyone is hot,” Josie said.

There were several nods of agreement in response to Josie's observation.

“Why does it even matter?” The younger of the two nursing students said.

“Because we handle some of the overflow from that floor.” Josie said. “He tried to send us a patient yesterday without even asking. And when I was in the med room earlier, I heard someone from his floor saying they were transferring three more patients to us today. Whether we like it or not."

Maddie's looked like a dear in the headlights. "Can he do that?" She said.

"Good question," Josie said. "And I hope the answer is no."

She looked at me. "I don't know about you, but this basic bitch doesn't have another minute in the day to take care of anyone else. The guy in room 8 has casts on both arms and his both legs. He can't do anything for himself," she said. "And I mean anything."

The nursing students each raised their eyebrows.

"Parasailing accident," Josie said.

Maddie looked uber stressed. She was good, but still training and had a smaller number of patients. I could see the panic set in and I needed her head in the game.

I stayed silent, my heart beating a little faster than I’d like. And it wasn’t the dark roast with an extra shot of espresso. I pulled my curly brown hair into a bun and secured it with an elastic that had been in my pocket. I hated hair on the back of my neck for any length of time, especially when I was nervous.

“Earth to Chelsea?” Josie said.

I looked up and realized everyone was waiting for me to weigh in. Only I had no idea that things were going to go down like this today and I knew I had to choose my words carefully so they didn’t bite me in the ass later. As in Friday night. “I’m 50/50.” I said.

There, I took the neutral way out. Easy peasy.

“What does that even mean?” Stacy said. She narrowed her eyes. “That isn’t going to work for me. Elaborate.”

I sighed. “ We’ve crossed paths. I don't know if he remembers me," I said. Okay now I was Pinnochio level lying. Were my cheeks turning red?

"Don't worry, I will introduce you," Josie said.

"Great!" I said. Crappity crap crap. "I think his name is Jason? He actually used to do some pool shifts on this floor when he was finishing his master’s degree. He’s really good with the patients. The little old ladies love him. He’s a stickler for detail which can get annoying and he’s really cranky when he goes too long without eating.”

“Wow,” Maddie said. “Does your husband know?”

They hadn't met my husband yet, but we had drinks and appetizers planned for Friday night. I liked this group. Our job was hard enough without animosity between staff members.

I laughed. “It's not that serious. I just have a good memory,” I said.

Just then the stairwell door opened with a loud groan. We all turned in that direction. It was Jason. Man of the hour. Looking all dapper in his starchy white lab coat, name and new title embroidered across the breast. He looked right at me.

“I need to talk to you about when you are taking the five transfers,” he said.

He was walking towards me with purpose. No good morning. No pleasantries. Typical man on a mission Jason when he was laser-focused on something. Ugh. I did a massive eye roll that only he could see.

Josie stepped in between us. "Jason, this is Chelsea. She's the nurse in charge here."

“Um I think I know my—” he said.

I cut him off. “Yes, I'm sure you know the difference between our badges," I said. As the charge nurse, I had a blue label at the bottom that said 'RN Charge' in white caps. "I’m Chelsea, good to see you again. It's been a while.”

“Good to see you as well,” he said. “Yes, I guess it has been awhile. My name is Jason.” He gave a nod to the ladies behind me. "Now about those five transfers."

He got several scowls and a big smile in return. The smile, of course, was from Maddie. Interesting considering the prospect of more patients terrified her.

“Wait. Did you say five? Oh hell no,” I said. I started to walk towards him, then turned to my coworkers and said over my shoulder, “Don’t worry, I’ve got this."

“Before you go any further, you need to get something straight. We are all over our nurse to patient ratios, the acuity level on this unity is high across the board, and I was told we have someone coming up from the ER in 45 minutes.”

“But I was told I could transfer them here,” he said. "And I've got two coming from Surgical ICU."

Agreeing to this request would lead to the day from hell, a cranky staff, and a really awkward Friday night.

“I don’t know what you were told or who told you, but around here we expect the common courtesy of a phone call and a discussion. This may be your first choice for an overflow unit, but that overflow can only happen when there’s a bed left to flow into. You got me?” I said.

I glanced at my staff. I got a thumbs up from Josie. Stacy gave me a thumbs up.

“I mean, yeah I guess 'I got you,' he said.

The tone was a tad snarky but that didn't stop me. It never did.

It didn't stop him either. "How about just three of the five then? Unless I should call bed control?” He said.

I heard an audible gasp from someone. We all knew that bed control was a last-ditch effort when the units couldn't play nice together. But Jason didn't know that. I had forgotten to tell him. And I knew they wouldn't tell him at orientation. This was one of those unwritten rules.

“How about I take one of the five patients personally and find a place for the other four somewhere else? Or I can walk with you to bed control so we discuss this matter together? I'm sure they'd like to know what an excellent job you are doing problem solving,” I said.

He shrugged and then nodded. "Ladies, it looks like you have one hell of a protective charge nurse here."

“I’ll be back in a few," I said. I saw several smiles of appreciation. We were safe from the prospect of all five patients. For now.

Jason and I walked towards the stairwell.

He held the door. “After you,” he said.

The door closed with a hard clunk behind us. It was dark and quiet, the beeps and buzzes of the unit silenced.

“Ah. Alone at last,” Jason said. “And yes I know you, I saw you at breakfast.”

I laughed. “And I saw you in the shower,” I said.

“So is calling bed control like getting called to the principal's office?” he said.

“Good analogy." I nodded. "And my bad. I forgot to mention we do it a bit differently these days. I think I can figure out a win-win solution. I have a favor I can call in to the 6th floor. They owe me.” I said. "Besides, I don't want you to get off on the wrong foot with my squad. I have two that may hate you. already."

"Oh wow," he said.

"If its any consolation, the other thinks you are hot," I said.

“Oh really?” he said. “Well I just want to make sure I get off on the right foot with my wife, so I will do whatever you tell me.”

He pulled me close and kissed me. “Are you getting dinner tonight or am I?”

"With a kiss like we might have to go straight to dessert," I said.

"I love you, babe," he said. He winked and then ran back up the stairs two at a time.

"Love you more!" I smiled as I watched him disappear. I'd have to buy the ladies a second round Friday night. I had some explaining to do.