As an RN at Metro City General, I work 3 12-hour shifts per week[. I like to work my days in a row, patients are more comfortable and relaxed with continuity, and, when you work your days in a row, you get your days off in a row.
I had a particularly bad stretch one week. I had demanding patients and one VIP. He was the worst. He called a lot for nonsense and when I'd go into his room all he did was stare at me.
Mr VandenBeerk was on isolation for infection. He had an Ilizarov Frame on his left leg with pins sticking out which needed to be cleaned and dressed twice daily. He also had cellulitis which made his leg fat and discolored, like a slice of pizza.
It was a shame, he was kinda cute. My average patient is a 75 year old man who reeks of ointment and has prostate issues, so we always notice a younger guy, and appreciate him if he's cute. Mr VandenBeerk was 41 and fit, about 6' tall with a hard tight body. He didn't look like a gym rat, more like a regular guy who was just very physically active. He had brush-cut dirty blond hair and bright blue eyes. He wasn't fine exactly, his features were a little off, but he was handsome, pensive and serious, he was actually kinda sexy.
He made me very nervous. He would watch me as I moved about, hanging his antibiotics, checking his vital signs. He was still as a stone and didn't talk much, only his eyes moved. When I do pin care, I usually have the patient elevate the extremity on pillows and raise the bed to save my back. Mr VandenBeerk wouldn't allow that. He said he was more comfortable with his foot on the floor so, I had to do his pin care in a squat on the floor, under him. He would watch me with a little smile on his face, I hated that, the fucker. He had long incisors too, haha, he was LITERALLY long in the tooth!!!
Anyway, his silence, his stare, his long ass teeth and off-center features made for one creepy ass dude. I didn't like him, he made me very uncomfortable. I thought his name was Dutch, but he was from South Africa, so he had a Dutch-ish accent. He was "eccentric" (cause he was rich, had he been a regular guy, he would just have been weird.)
He wasn't so bad. He wasn't fresh or terribly unreasonable. I got through my days finally. I was looking forward to my days off and to coming back to a new group of patients. A grand surprise greeted me upon my return. I checked the board and saw that not only was Mr VandenBeerk still here, but that he was my only patient. I usually get 6.
"Hey Geri, what gives?" I asked my nurse manager.
"Well," she explained "Mr. VandenBeerk is a very important VIP, he is building a new wing here. He is very particular and has requested you to be his private duty nurse this weekend."
"I am not a private duty nurse! I want a group. He was fine with me last week when I had other patients, did he complain?"
"Sarah," Geri put on her exasperated voice, pulling her glasses from the top or her head onto her face and looking at me over them "As I said, he is a very important VIP, he's giving this hospital a lot of money. He is paying you double your hourly rate plus bonus. He wants you to be his nurse, that's it."
She tried to console me by reminding me that he was fit and mobile, but then ruined it by telling me he was a but fussy and didn't want a lot of people in his room. I would have to act as his nurse assistant as well, helping him bathe and making his bed. Making his bed!?!? No job is above or beneath me, but I hadn't made a bed since nursing school.
"Goede Morgen Meneer VandenBeerk," he didn't acknowledge my attempt. I'd been to Holland and I know Dutch isn't Afrikaans, but I thought they were close enough.
"Good morning Sarah. Close the door please, keep it closed. It's going to be you and me today. You are the only one I want in here today. Are you okay with that?" What the hell could I say, I had to be diplomatic "we'll have a good day today." And so the staring began. He smiled his creepy smile and watched me move about, doing his am care.
My ears and cheeks were on fire. I am never happier to be dark skinned then when I blush, no one can see it.
"You're blushing," he stated, my head whipped around. "How do you know? It's not obvious." "It is if you know what to look for. Your lips are red." I only wear clear gloss, never lipstick to work.
"Mr. VandenBeerk, you make me nervous. You don't talk, you don't smile and you stare at me from the minute I walk in to the minute I walk out. Could you please not stare at me?" I knew I'd said too much but it was worth a shot. He ignored what I said "Never let anyone know they've got the drop on you. In my line of work that could cost you your life." What the hell?