Hot summers and challenging work environments

It's nearly 9pm here in Tasmania. We have had hot, hot weather and it's so hard to sleep - makes it hard to work too! But...this is good for Tassie - very summery. The windows are open, the fans are going and we are trying to get the air moving so we can rest tonight.

Work is fun. It was so hot yesterday that my arm was sticking to the mouse pad! At that stage I decided it was time to leave. We have a beautiful office - view wise. Everyone who comes in says it's the best office in the building but....although we have fantastic views - we have 2 walls of windows - we don't have airconditioning in summer and we don't have heating in winter. So, in summer, it's like having our personal sauna, and in winter it's a case of wear the thermals and make sure the knee rug is available as well!
The afternoons can be very exciting in our office. That's when visitors to the nearby ward congregate outside the door - the only entrance and exit - and vie with each other for the award for the loudest person. What they don't know is that there is only a thin piece of plaster board between them and us. For us that means whispered conversations on the 'phone or between the two of us occupying the office - for confidentiality reasons of course. The only problem being that because the visitors are so loud we can't hear each other because of the noise. Where does that leave us? Why emailing each other across the few feet that separate us -what else? As for the phone conversations....if we can't ask the person to call back we just have to hope no one outside knows who we are talking to :o)

Not so long ago we heard a woman frantically calling the name of a child. We knew there must be something wrong and being a nurse you can't just ignore what seems to be a cry for help. So when we opened the door to find a prostrate child on the lounge and a frantic mother leaning over him we realised that all that Basic Life Support training was not in vain -yes! the educators got to call a Code Blue for real. The team was there in no time - excellent reponse and off he went to DEM -breathing by then but not too happy with things. Mother still looked shocked but was well cared for by one of the nurses on the Code Team.

Being so close to a ward and not wanting to keep the door locked (although my predecessor did) we have had the occasional visit from a patient who is confused about where he lives. I was tempted to lock the door when one of our patients, who wasn't too happy about being in hospital,decided he would make us jump a bit by roaring like a lion every now and then and thumping the panel between the lifts. Quite unnerving and not good when you are trying to have a quiet cup of green tea!

And finally, just to complete the picture...we have to avoid the obstacles placed in front of our door on a regular basis. The attendants' room is close to us as well and, of course, they like to have the wheelchairs close by -they (the wheelchairs) live outside our office. It's a good idea to open the door and check before stepping out - unless you want to end up in a wheelchair!
So...what's your work environment? As interesting as ours?

I'm going to bed now. Our makeshift screen means we can leave the balcony door open - so we may be cool enough to sleep tonight - I hope so, I get really cranky when I can't sleep and that, coupled with noisy visitors, might just be enough to tip me over!!