Ah, shoes.....yes....
every girls favorite subject.... let's do it!
Background: I am a
Critical Care/ ICU trauma nurse in the
second busiest trauma center in L.A. County.
Cold winter day. Trauma room. Gunshot wound to the head. 20 year old male.
I am responsible for rapidly transfusing what could be 100s
of pints of blood within minutes. Ok, he
is on the table. He is bleeding, no...
hemorrhaging blood and brains from a blow out in the top of his head. I am standing at the Level 1 Transfuser at
his left shoulder. I'm starting a large
bore IV, pouring blood into this kid.
His brains are all over my pants and shoes. His blood. His life. On my
pants and shoes. He dies.
His mother arrives at the hospital. The doctor goes into the
hallway to tell her. I hear screaming.
I start to make him pretty for her to say goodbye. I put an ACE bandage around his head to stop
the brains and blood. I clean up. He is clean. He was a beautiful boy.
Moral of the story: Never wear Crocs! They have holes in the
top! I was smart and had learned this early in my career - no Crocs! I had
close toed shoes that you could wipe down with sani-wipes. I still had to throw
them away (along with the pants), but I had not been exposed to any blood borne
pathogens.
I am on my feet 12 hours a shift. Shoes matter as much as
eye glasses.
Are they comfortable? Can I stand for 12 hours? Walk for 12
hours? Can I have my toes run over by a bed weighing 1,200 pounds and not have
an injury? Can I hold open the door with a foot while pushing in equipment? Blah
blah blah, you get the point.
Most importantly, can I jump onto my knees and kneel next to
someone on their bed and do chest compressions without my shoes falling off?
You cannot do that in clogs you know....they fall right off.
ICU/ Critical Care nurses have to be able to run, bend,
reach for chest tube lines under beds, stretch to reach pressure bag hooks high
overhead, dodge flying puke or poop like Neo. We are life sustaining athletes. I can bob and weave like Sugar Ray. I found
this out when my first gang banger came down off of meth and was violent and
assaultive.
I love shoes. I like them to match my scrubs. I like them
loud or flowery printed. I have animal print ones.
I go through a lot of shoes. Ones with straps break easily. Clogs
fall off. Crocs... even the close toes
ones.... nuh uh - there's no support. How about those Skechers Shape Ups? Great way
to twist your ankle in a crisis let me tell you. I'm still looking for a
perfect work shoe. They are expensive.
Anyway, my facility is requiring 80% of all their RNs to have their BSN (Bachelor of
Science of Nursing) by 2015. I start next month on that journey.
Please help fund me so I can continue saving lives and comforting the sick and injured as well as their families. I can be the best part of someone's worst day.
