2200 and beyond

Things have a way of going badly right about the time that shift change rolls around. That's when I always start realizing that my patient's haven't peed, or that my meds aren't in the right place, and there's always just ONE more thing that I have to do before I can finish (ok, start) my charting. Tonight, I was just going to help put a catheter in. I procrastinated, finished up a note, then moseyed down to the room. So I walk in, and this little old lady is white as a sheet with her left leg soaked in blood. Turns out that somebody gave Grandma too much coumadin and her INR was 10. Seeing as how that's TEN TIMES the normal level, she bumped her leg and the next thing we know she's leaking like a sieve. Not to mention the fact that she collapsed and went unresponsive in the ER. So clearly, the doctors think that she's stable enough for the floor. NOT. With a heart rate of 130 and an H+H of 5.8 and 18 (bad. very bad), Grandma needs some blood and oh here's a thought AN ICU BED. Unfortunately, since this all happened at the end of the shift, I have no idea how she's doing. Usually I try to con the night nurses into calling me on my cell and feeding me lab results so I can rest easy, but this isn't even really my patient. Guess this one's just a cliffhanger.