Time to Dance

When I go to work and it's slow on my floor they don't send me home. They send me to another floor to "sit". Sometimes it's because a patient is combative or is trying to get up. Most of the time it means that there is a patient that has pulled out a line and they want you to watch and make sure they don't do it again. Sit. And watch. AKA bore you to tears, death, whatever. I usually don't mind doing it too much, I always have a book in my bag just in case. I saw one girl that I work with cry one night because she had to go sit. Anyway, it seems like I always have a good story to tell after I go sit - that's what's up with the lengthy explanation.

Tonight I sat with an old guy on the oncology floor. He pulled out his NG tube last night when he woke up a little bit confused. Since last night, though, they removed all his lines except his IV. He didn't need a sitter. Let me tell you a couple things about the night:

• They had been trying to get him up to the shower all day and two of the times his nurse came in and again when his family dropped in, he yelled at me, "no, you cannot get in the shower with me."

• I told him I was reading Rebecca and he said that they made it into a movie a long time ago and it was a good one. I asked him if he knew what Netflix was and I told him I planned on putting it in my queue. He went on to explain that he owned a video store in Parma and Netflix didn't pay taxes (?) or help the local economy and it just was not worth it to rent through them. Let me just say, it's a good thing they didn't come in to take his blood pressure right then. I think I could have gotten fired...

He didn't need a sitter but I'm glad they didn't cancel me because I totally had fun hanging out with him. At the end of the night, before he rolled over to go to sleep, he told me I was great company. I'll take it.