Motivational things

07:00 am
The alarms goes off to the music of radio one and Jack wakes to a startle as he had been drinking the night before. Jack reaches over and slams his hand on the alarm clock radio to turn the noise off. Jack rubs his hand over his head rubbing it and says to himself ‘shit what was I drinking?’. then roles back over in bed just lying there, feeling a bit worse for wear from the previous night. Jack turns over after five minutes and kisses his sleeping wife and jumps out of bed and heads over to the bathroom for a shower. Jack turns the shower on but does not check the temperature of the water and as he steps in he lets out a little yelp as the water is cold but maybe that’s what he needs as he is feeling a bit hung over. Jack just stands in the shower for a few minutes then starts slowly to wash himself over. When Jack is done he starts to wake up a little more and starts to get dressed in the bathroom just so he does not wake his sleeping wife. Jack checks the time and it is about 07:23 am and he quietly comes out of the bathroom which is off the bedroom and creeps through the bedroom and out into the landing and heads down stairs to the kitchen. Whilst in the kitchen Jack makes a strong coffee with two scoops of coffee and a little milk just to make it that bit stronger. As he drinks it he turns the TV on but quietly just to have a little thing to listen too while making some toast to eat. Jack has the strong coffee with toast with a homemade meat pate and ham on top. Jack starts to wake up better now after drinking the coffee and then walks to the sink and washes up his things but leaves them on the drainer to dry. Jack checks the time on his watch and it says it is 07:40 and collects his things and puts them in his rucksack. Before Jack leaves he heads back to the bedroom and kisses his wife on the check goodbye and says ‘I Love you’, his wife mumbles ‘love you too’ and turns over in bed. Jack heads off down stairs and out the door.
It usually takes Jack about forty minutes to walk to work but Jack has plenty of time as he does not have to start until about 08:45 am. On the way to work Jack likes to watch people and think about what people have been up to and what they do for a job. On the way to work Jack watches and looks at people and on the way he sees a man with stains down his shirt and a bloody face walking all over the place, Jack chuckles to himself and thinks that maybe this man has been in a fight over a woman he tried to chat up the night before. The girl’s boyfriend maybe took offence to this and smacks this bloke in the face making him spill his beer over his shirt. Jack walks on to work and does not see any interesting people until about five minutes from work wear he sees a bloke passed out on the grassy verge. Jack being a caring person walks over to him and gives him a little shake and asks the passed out gentle man ‘are you ok’, the man mumbles to Jack ‘piss off, leave me alone’. Jack stands back and tells the passed out man that he is sleeping on a grassy verge in the street. The man stumbles to get up and starts to wonder off. Jack turns around and walks off as the man appears aggressive and even though Jack can handle himself he does not want to get in to a fight with a drunk. Jack continues on his way to work and gets there about 08:35 am and thinks that’s not bad timing.

08:45am
Jack arrives at a Mental Health Hospital for adults from the age of 16 to the age of 60. Today Jack is working on a ward called Premier and it is an admissions ward which is mixed males and females but with two bedroom corridors, one side females and the other is males. After Jack have had his hand over in the nursing office with a team of ten nurses which has two qualified and eight Health Care Assistants and has one seclusion room for aggressive patients. On Premier ward the patients are held on a section of the mental health act which is either a section 2 which means the person is held in hospital for assessment for up to twenty eight days or a section 3 which means the person is held in hospital for treatment for up to six months then if the section is going to be restarted it will go for twelve months for treatment.
Today Jack is nursing a patient who is on a constant or an enhanced nursing program due to the seriousness of the patients self-harm or suicide attempts. A constant is a nurse has to be within arm’s length of the patient at all times no matter where they are or what they are doing. This is because the patient has serious potential of trying to kill himself. The patients name is Paul and he is a thirty five year old man who has gone through a bad divorce with his wife and Paul could not handle it as he lost custody of his kids and house. Paul could not handle this and decided to try and end his life by cutting his throat. Paul was admitted a week ago and due to Paul’s injuries he was placed on a constant as he has tried to rip out his stitches from his throat. Jack goes over to Paul as he is in the day area which the communal area for the patients, ‘Hi I’m Jack I am on your constant for a while ‘ Paul looks up and stares at Jack looking him up and down with a look of disgust. Paul stands up suddenly looking annoyed facing Jack, so jack stands his ground and holds his hand out to shake hands with Paul. The only thing is Jack is thinking ‘this guy is trying to intimidate me’ but Jack just smiles holding out his hand. Paul facing Jack just gulps asks Jack does not move and decides to shake his hand. Jack continues to smile and says ‘nice to meet you Paul’. Paul just sits back down and talks to Jack about what he is hear for but tells Jack ‘I’m on a constant because I hurt people and like hurting people’. Jacks response to this was ‘ you’re on a constant because of you attempts of killing yourself’ and just looks Paul in the eyes but Pauls response was just to smile and says to Jack ‘ ok you’re not easily pushed, I like you’. Jacks smiles and says ‘thanks’ but Jack still does not let his guard down as Paul appears to be a bit of a player but not a good one in his eyes.
Paul gets up and wonders off down the corridor toward his room and Jack gets up and follows him but Paul looks back and looks annoyed that Jack is following him, this does not faze Jack he is only doing his job and this patient will try it no matter who is on his constant. Paul enters his bedroom and slams the door behind him shutting Jack in the corridor. Jack Opens the bedroom door and enters the room where he finds Paul standing at the window looking out the window. Jack keeps the door open by putting a chair against the door and Jack stands where he can see Paul fully which means he is standing against a wall which he leans against. Paul says to Jack ‘what the bloody hell you doing in my room, did I say you could come in?’ Jack smiles and responds to him ‘ you are on a constant and I have to be with arm’s length of you all times’ which seems to shit Paul up straight away as Jack does not seemed to be fazed by Pauls attitude. Paul asks Jack ‘what if I need to go to the toilet?’ and Jacks response is ‘I need to be able to see you at all times’ and leaves it there with the conversation. Paul stands there at the window and appears to be responding to outside stimulation (voices) but from Jacks hand over nothing was handed over about Paul hears voices. Paul asks Jack ‘is you afraid of blood?’ Jack stands up straights and stops leaning against the wall and moves his hand down towards his personal alarm which will tell other staff where the emergency is so they could respond. Paul turns round and looks Jack in the eyes and Paul brings his right hand up to his dressing and rips off his dressing and with the other hand rips at his stitches. At this point Jack has set off the alarms for assistance and lunges at Paul to stop him hurting himself more. Jack grabs his right wrist and tries to grab his other hand ripping at his stitches. By the time Jack manages to grab at Pauls left hand he has ripped out his stitches and his wound has opened up and you can see inside his throat. In the struggle Jack has pinned Paul against the wall and Paul has managed to get his fingers inside his throat and hooked his fingers in side. Jack has hold of Pauls hand and pins his hand against Pauls hand against his open wound. Staff enter the room in a rush and Jack shouts out ‘don’t move him he’s got his hand in his throat’. Paul sees all the staff enter and stops struggling, staff see the situation and decide one other staff will support Jack and contain the other side of Paul to minimise the danger of the situation. If staff did not do this Paul could have coursed serious injuries or worse to himself. Another staff member holds on to Jacks hand to support his hand which is holding Pauls hand. Some of the team walk out of the room and Jack can hear them chatting but he cannot hear what they are saying. After about ten minutes but seems like hours the qualified comes back in who is called Clare and explains what is going to happen. Clare tells Jack and Paul that staffs is going to tape Jacks hand to Pauls hand and neck to minimise the potential risk of injury or death and then they will inject Paul with medication to chill him out. Paul starts shouting out ‘no fucking way’ and attempts to struggle but the team hold on to Paul and Clare rushes out and returns quickly with some tape. Clare tapes up Pauls and Jacks hands around Paul’s neck and then Clare injects Pauls in the left arm and after about ten to fifteen minutes Paul starts to relax and releases the tension in his body and Jack can feel this relaxing body. Staff in the meantime has brought up a patient trolley to transport Paul down to another department in the hospital so Paul can have treatment and Jacks hand can be let go and Pauls hand can be removed safely with no problems. Jack and the staff move Paul slowly out of his bedroom and into the corridor while Jacks hand is still taped around Paul’s neck. Staffs have helped Paul on to the trolley and Jack has to try and walk on the side of the trolley but facing Paul.
The whole journey down to the other ward takes at least about fifteen minutes and they have gone down to a clinic or theatre so that Paul can be given more medication to make him sleep and both Jacks and Pauls hands can be removed. During the whole journey Clare the qualified nurse has stayed with Paul and Jack given Jack reassurance the whole time. Once in the clinic there is a team of about ten staff all in scrubs or theatre gowns waiting for us which is a happy site for Jack. Once wheeled in to the theatre a nurse starts to put an intravenous cannula into his arm to give him medication to make him sleep. This takes about three to four minutes to take effect and Paul appears to be sleeping with an oxygen mask over his mouth. The lead person in the theatre unravels the tape around Paul’s neck and Jacks hand. Jack has held his breath while this is being done and as soon as the tape comes off Jacks starts breathing again. When Jack has done this the lead nurse in the theatre giggles and says to Jack ‘you can relax now’, Jack lets go of Pauls hand and steps back and turns to Clare and smiles and says ‘thanks’. The theatre staff asks Jack and Clare to leave the room while they operate on Paul. With a feeling of happiness from Jack he walks out of theatre and has all sorts of emotions running through his head and body.
Jack leaves the theatre and wonders down to the canteen to get his head together. What Jack has been through is not what anyone should go though, as seeing someone trying to kill themself is not an event that is ever nice to see. Jack orders a coffee and takes a seat and relaxes for about thirty to forty minutes before Clare enters and sits with Jack with a drink and askes Jack ‘How you feeling?’ Jacks response is ‘shit that was fucked up but I’m fine thank you’ and just smiles ay Clare. Clare askes Jack ‘really?’ and Jack just nods. Clare finishes her drink and says to Jack ‘I think we should head back to theatre and collect Paul and take him back to the ward. Clare and Jack stand up and return their cups back to the counter and say ‘Thank you’ and walk slowly back to theatre. Once in theatre they see Paul in recovery and see him still sleeping on a patient trolley and the recovery nurse say that he is ok to return to the ward now. A porter, Jack and Clare return back to Premier ward and return back to Paul’s room and slide Paul over to his bed. Even though Jack has just been through a bad incident Jack has to remain on his constant and observe his breathing and vital signs. To Jacks delight he will have company has company while observing Paul it is Clare as a qualified nurse as policy states with in the hospital.

12:45pm
Jack is sitting there doing his job well with Clare and he looks at his watch and notices that he only has about fifteen minutes left on his shift as he is only working a half day today. Clare askes Jack ‘do you think you will come back and work here again?’ Jack just looks at Clare and smiles as he nods and says ‘yes, it’s been exciting’. Clare lets Jack know that she will write the incident report of what has happened this morning and he needs not to worry about anything that has happened. Jack was told that he has done a great job and that he has probably saved a man’s life with his actions. This brings a smile to Jacks face and made him feel worthwhile in his job as a health care post. It hits one o’clock in the afternoon and another nurse comes in and says ‘I have come to take over you on Pauls constant and you can go home now. Jack responds by saying ‘thank you for an exciting shift.

13:00 pm
Jack walks out of the building and thinks to himself ‘what the hell’ but really Jack did enjoy his shift today. Jack wonders off home and looks forward to getting home but the only thing is that his was wife will be at work and he will be alone when he gets back. So Jack wonders off in to town and decides to buy his wife a gift just because, this means there is no special occasion just to say I Love You. It reaches about 14:30 pm and Jack gets home and after having a shower and dumps his clothes in the laundry he changes into shorts and a vest and sits on the sofa with a bottle of wine and puts on a movie. Jack sits there and thinks to himself where and what will he be doing tomorrow and how long will his shift be.