Lying down on the job

I’ve been a nurse for 33 years and I DID do something a little bit “crazy” once—I was in charge of a busy 12-bed mother-baby unit and they were pushing to discharge “couplets” so we could get another couplet in the next five minutes! Oh, and I had a full assignment myself.

Well, phones were ringing and I was being called to the desk to be asked, “Do you have any beds yet?” for the millionth time. I said, “That’s it!” and I LAY DOWN ON THE FLOOR IN THE NURSE’S STATION!

I just did it, and everyone around was so shocked—and then they started laughing, and I did, too. And so I got up (with a little help from my friends), and took a deep breath and went back to work. From then on, whenever I looked stressed, they would all say, “You’re not gonna lie down on the floor again, are ya?”

So anyway! Gotta deal with stress somehow—why not laugh while you’re at it?

—M. Louise, RN