Sink or Swim

Ya'll know that saying "sink or swim". . . Well I was faced with that dilema last night at work and it makes me wonder, is there such a thing as "just bob around for awhile until someone finally comes along and saves your a**"? because that's exactly what happened to me at work last night~ welcome to nights. The reason I orientated to labor and delivery during the day is because that's when all the doc's are around, the scheduled c-sections, the inductions, it's a more controlled environment hence more opportunity to learn- right? Let me tell you, last night was my first night back and the you know what was hittin' the fan! So much so that the nurse I was "orientating" with had to leave to go "check" a newly admitted patient- who turned out to be 9cm!! So I came out of our active labor patient's room after checking my own patient who was complete and ready to push (with mec and a maternal temp = not a good thing) and I knew I needed to call the doctor. So I'm immediately scanning the crowd for my preceptor's face when all of a sudden she come's pushing a screaming woman, one cheekin' it in the wheelchair (ya'll know what that means) and when we make eye contact she says "You're on your own Mel". Now that is not a good thing and I stood there thinking "WHAT? Someone has to be responsible for me- I can't be trusted!" Then a brick hit me in the head with a message attached "you're responsible for yourself damn it- call Dr. Olson now" So I called one of the most intimidating md's on staff, first and foremost told him about the patient's condition and "oh, by the way, it's just me tonight" (he know's I'm new to all this). So THANK GOD he was there in a jiffy and it was just him and me! I joked with the dad that he and I were going to be delivering this baby- but you know how they say under every joke is an underlying truth!! Now I know cab drivers have delivered babies, and I know women deliver babies out in fields, etc. however, a woman sedated under epidural anesthesia with pitocin with meconium stained fluid with a maternal temp makes for a much riskier situation. I caught myself standing there literally thinking "sink or swim" and what motivated me most is that if I sank, I wasn't going down alone. This lovely little family was coming too and I couldn't let that happen. She gave birth to a beautiful little girl and requested my picture with their family because they know how hard I worked and what a contribution I made to her delivery. And even though I doggy paddled around for a little bit, that's what makes this job worth every bit!