Just another day at the office...

Things have been slowing down at work, kinda.  In other words, I'm just getting used to it.  My unit has gone through several changes lately and co-workers are not pleased.  I've been trying really hard to have a positive attitude and encourage, but sometimes that's hard.   Our heads are still above water though....thanks to security.
Last night was a busy night.  Hospital is jam-packed.  Literally rearranged patients so we can fit them into every nook and cranny of the building.  We get a male patient up from the ER that I'm familiar with. Basically, he was a police hold for safety.  The only thing we had to do for the night was keep him safe and not let him leave.  Keep in mind, he had a tendency to get a little frisky, as in throwing punches and kicking people down.  Luckily for us he was in a great mood.  Being very compliant and was actually quite cute.
Of course at shift change at 0700 I eat my words every time.  Seems like every time I'm just ready to clock out, something goes down.  So, I went in to check on said patient.  He's putting clothes on, yelling at his "safety officer," which is usually a pointless term.  Unfortunately in this situation, we need to keep the patient in the room, and sometimes we need to lock the patient in the room(we have orders for this, so it's okay) to keep safe and others safe.  As I was trying to get the door closed and locked with patient inside and safe, he burst through the door and got into the hallway.  I get him to sit down on a chair and take a few deep breathes.  As I'm trying to diffuse the situation, said patient gets mad at me and starts swatting at me and I think I saw fire in his eyes.  To which I promptly step back and realize, 'Hey, I'm in a corner.'  I was literally screaming in my head, "I'm in a corner.  Oh crap."  Luckily I maneuvered out of the corner to get up to the nurses station to call security and alert them of the situation.  In that time the patient comes around the corner with several staff following, and heads down the hallway to another unit.  At this point, I have to call a code "violent patient" overhead which is always exciting because every male in the hospital shows up.
Luckily the men showed, and they had to escort poor patient back to room.  All in all, it was a pretty exciting few moments.  And I'm once again so thankful for security.
PS- In other news, my boss told me today that he's heard I've been doing a great job of being charge nurse and that he's very impressed.  Sorry for the lack of blog posts lately. :)