I really wish I didn't have any commitments tonight, because I felt like tonight would have been a great time to stick around the ER a little longer than I normally do. I mean, getting paid $40 to pass out Halloween candy is always a great thing when you are broke, but I have a feeling that I would have seen some great things, considering I am so close to Salem and all the madness that goes on there Halloween night (over 100,000 people in the city for the night!!!). When I got there at one today, they had already started filling up the beds in the hallway. Couple of MVA traumas, a code came in while I was with another patient, some respiratory distress...everyone was running around and the ER was so full.

I was walking around and one of the techs asked "Hey Beth, have you had a flu shot yet?" I said "No, do I really need one?" He said "Yeah, come get one, it's free." So I got my flu shot. I wasn't going to do it originally, because I am rarely ever sick and I felt like it should have been saved for someone else. I also have this thing where I am starting to think that Americans are too clean and too vaccinated. I don't know. Plus I know it's filled with some chemicals and can somtetimes compromsie the immune system. MRSA is such a big issue, and the flu shot might not even keep me from getting the flu, as the people making the vaccine have to predict what the major strain is going to be. But it does kinda make sense that I got one. One of the moms I babysit for who just had a baby a couple of weeks ago asked if I had it done, and she was making her entire family get one because of the new guy. Plus, I'm with older people all the time, and all the time spent at the hospital, it does make sense.

Today was another great day. The nurses think I'm doing them favors sitting with the more challenging patients, when really they are doing me favors by helping me learn to interact with people in all different walks of life. I was doing my rounds and Nurse X said "Oooh Nurse Y, there is your friend!" Nurse Y came up and grabbed my by the arm and asked if I would sit with an older couple. Sweet, sweet couple in their late 80s, early 90s. They live independently a few towns away...and both are very, very confused, which scares me. That is why I was sitting with them, because one was found wandering the hospital. I don't know how this couple made it to the ER driving. The nurses caught on quite quickly the severity of the situation, and managed to not let onto the wife that she was a patient in addition to her husband. Again it goes back to this recurring theme I have seen over my time at the ER, neglect of the elderly. The couple have a daughter living within 15 mins, how could she not know what was going on? What's more, when she finally made it into the ER, she asked the people doing her mom's eval when she could go. I don't want to pass judgement at all because I know nothing about this family and what their lives are life, but I really do pray that I can give my parents confidence that someone will be able to take care of them when they need help.