Monday, March 09, 2015

Grace of God

I am presently working at a huge government hospital here in Saudi Arabia currently assigned in the Pediatric Emergency department. I have been working here for almost four months now but I cannot really say that I have fully adjusted already. I face different levels of stress each and every shift. The recent one is what I am about to reveal...
I was currently on the night shift when a child and a father came for their antiviral dose. A mentor who taught me everything I needed to know in the area was taking care of the patient. I was passing by her assigned area when she called me and informed me of a drug she recently hooked intravenously to the patient and asked me to countersign. I did countersign and just as I was processing the information, she gave me a prescription of drugs to be taken from the pharmacy. I immediately complied. When I came back, I gave her the medication. I tried to help other people who needed help when after just a few minutes she came to me saying that we have hooked the wrong medication. My mind went blank and I started asking myself if I really did check the medication that was hooked. The father had this angry expression and he shunned my mentor out of the room. My mentor was very stressed and distraught at that moment. She was telling me that she felt sorry for causing me to become a part of that mistake. I was still processing everything. I was definitely stressed but I had a feeling of peace inside me that is difficult to explain. I decided to bravely go inside the room of the patient. The correct medication was hooked already. I asked the father about his son and his family. I took care of the patient and gave every single ounce of care I could even though I knew he had a communicable disease. Then, I started asking the father of what had previously happened. He angrily stated what happened. He said that what angered him the most was that the previous nurse was not listening to him when he warned her, and that that mistake could potentially kill a patient (which is true). Every word he said pierced to my heart because I was indirectly part of that mistake. After the antibiotic dose, I did the aftercare and prepared his son. The consultant in our area talked to him and just as they were about to leave, I said my apologies on behalf of the other nurse and I also personally apologized. He smiled and said, "It's okay sister." It somehow gave me relief. Prior to my shift, I was praying to God to guide us. Instead of questioning God why He has let this happen, I was thankful for His grace. We made that mistake but it was His grace that the medicine that was wrongly administered was just Ranitidine and not something with detrimental consequences. It was His grace that did that. However, it's not yet over. We had to make a report and to make matters worse, our acting head nurse asked the one who committed the mistake and the one who countersigned it to appear to the associate director of nursing the next day.
I couldn't sleep. I just kept on praying and praying, reading His word and demanding for His promise of deliverance. That morning came and we went to the office of the associate director of nursing. We admitted our mistake. He was calm. He reprimanded us and reminded us of our responsibilities. In the end, he told us that he will see what he will do about the situation. Whew~~! Lord, you are so wonderful!! At that point, it was like God was telling me, "I am here. I am always here. You can always depend on me. On my way home, I could not help but just feel that my Father in heaven truly loves me. It touches my heart and it is difficult not to shed tears of happiness...

by jiL at 3:27 AM |