A nurse’s day

Thursday, May 12, 2005 | 11:04 a.m.

Here are the majority of Marty Katz's duties during seven hours of his 12-hour shift May 5 in the Sunrise Children's Hospital emergency room.

10 a.m. Patient 2 (a 5-year-old boy)'s mom wanted to talk with Katz about the boy's test results and asked for some coffee.

10:01 a.m. Patient 1 (a 6-year-old girl) needs to be unhooked from her IV so she can go to the bathroom.

10:05 a.m. Katz prepared coffee for Patient 2's mom.

10:07 a.m. Took Patient 2's chart to the boy's mom to discuss his situation.

10:08 a.m. Retrieved medication from a locked cabinet and an IV from the clean utility room for Patient 2.

10:16 a.m. Katz wrote in Patient 2's chart that he was given medication.

10:21 a.m. Delivered coffee to Patient 2's mom.

10:22 a.m. Hooked up IV for Patient 1.

10:27 a.m. Updated Patient 1's chart.

10:34 a.m. Unhooked Patient 1's IV so she could go to the bathroom.

10:25 a.m. Faxed a prescription to the pharmacy for Patient 1, wrote the information in her chart and called the pharmacists to let them know about the fax.

10:44 a.m. Checked on Patient 1 and reattached her IV.

11 a.m. Patient 2's mom requested a food tray, and Katz investigated why one was not delivered at breakfast.

11:12 a.m. Turned off the antibiotics for Patient 2.

11:30 a.m. Changed linens and restocked supplies in the resuscitation room, where a baby boy died earlier in the day.

11:35 a.m. Katz received a third patient, a 14-year-old boy who arrived by ambulance with an injured shoulder. He checked his vital signs and filled out the paperwork for his chart.

11:55 am. Patient 1's medication arrived from the pharmacy through a pneumatic tube.

11:56 a.m. A new patient arrived in one of Katz's rooms.

12:03 p.m. Checked on Patient 2 and fixed his IV.

12:15 p.m. Gave Patient 2 oral medication for a fever and updated his chart.

12:20 p.m. Filled out paperwork for Patient 1 to be transferred to a bed in the main part of Sunrise Children's Hospital.

12:40 p.m. Checked on Patent 3, the boy with the injured shoulder.

12:48 p.m. An ambulance arrived to pick up the boy, who was waiting on transportation to a behavioral health facility

12:55 p.m. Took a half hour lunch break.

1:40 p.m. Katz helped a nurse draw blood from a little boy who was fighting the staff.

2 p.m. Katz received a fifth patient, a 5-year-old girl who had vomited at home and came through the emergency room.

2:16 p.m. He administered a suppository to stop the vomiting.

2:50 p.m. Gave Patient 5 water to see if she was done vomiting.

3:05 p.m. Patient 3 was discharged so Katz updated her chart.

3:10 p.m. Checked on Patent 5 to see if she was drinking the water and changed the linens where Patient 3 had been before she was discharged.

3:15 p.m. Collected a urine sample from Patient 5 and tested it for various conditions.

3:35 p.m. Charted that Patient 5 was being discharged.

3:50 p.m. Gave more medicine to Patient 5.

4:12 p.m. Put sling on Patient 4's arm and updated his chart to reflect that treatment.

4:20 p.m. Another patient arrived and had a breathing problem.

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