An open letter to the ICU
Dear ICU,
There is really nothing quite like you, is there? Today when I got home from work, I tried to describe you to my husband. You’re hard to sum up, that’s for sure. This is what I told him.
Nothing breaks you down and tramples on your self-esteem quite like the ICU. In the same breath, nothing builds your confidence quite like it, either.
I thank you for that. The confidence part, of course. Aw, what the hell. Thanks for trampling on me, too. Sometimes it takes a hard kick in teeth (or in my case, a hard punch in the sternum) to teach you what’s good about life.
Thanks for teaching me, every day, how not to sweat the small stuff. For example…a sustained systolic blood pressure in the 300’s. It kind of makes a traffic jam look a little less annoying. At least for now.
Thank you for showing me the true meaning of a team. It’s having people backing you up so incredibly thoroughly and so consistently, that not for one second do you feel the need to question their judgement. It’s knowing that you’ll be 100% supported, no matter what happens. It’s bitching and moaning at the nurse’s station, elbow-deep together in poo, and some of the most twisted, wonderful humor I have ever come across.
Thanks for showing me that I might, in fact, be a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Nursing is what i like to call “Type 2 Fun.” Type 1 fun involves vacations, good wine, friends…type 2 fun involves walking up hill for 13 miles, and/or ICU nursing. Some days, the most stable patient is the one on a bunch of drips.
Thanks for teaching me to function with a blood sugar of 50 or a bladder stretched so tightly you think pee might squirt out of your tear ducts at any minute.
Thanks for teaching me about my own values. How I want to die. And more importantly, how I want to live.
See you tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Caroline
This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 at 4:50 pm and is filed under second year. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
January 6th, 2010 at 11:44 am
great post! i’m a student and can’t wait till my icu rotation. i know it will be so challenging, but also a great experience!
i loved your letter
January 7th, 2010 at 8:10 am
I consult for a medical information database that’s looking to expand readership and use. We’re interested in having a referral link on your site leading back to our site, this would be in the form of an unobtrusive text link.
Let me know how we can make this work.
Best Regards,
Arthur Czuma
January 7th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
Love this post. Love what you are learning and becoming. Proud of you.
Mermaid Mom
January 7th, 2010 at 11:27 pm
[...] at Brain Scramble, RN writes An Open Letter to the ICU. I can’t add a single thing; what a wonderful [...]
January 8th, 2010 at 10:55 am
Wow. I think that we both have made the transition into the ICU around the same time. I admit, that sums it up quite perfectly.
January 9th, 2010 at 7:20 am
That. Is. Awesome.
In such a short post you nailed it.
I am so very happy for you and your new job, your new career.
Keep it up girl. Keep it up.
February 3rd, 2010 at 10:58 pm
[...] 49. “An open letter to the ICU” at Brain Scramble, RN [...]