Shelby was so excited. It was the first day of clinical. It seemed she had been waiting all her life for this moment. The first two years of nursing school are so boring. All classroom and no direct patient care. Memorizing all the bones and muscles of the body. Learning all about anatomy and chemistry. Understanding the formulas of medication, how they work, what the side effects were.
"Aren't there books that I can look all this crap up in?" she thought. "Let me at the patients!! Teach me how to give a bath, an enema or a shot. Show me how to insert a foley or put in an i.v."
And today was THE day! She was going to go onto the orthopedic floor and give a bed bath. She had practiced on dummies in the lab, but now it was time to do it to a real person. Shelby was hoping for a male patient. She felt that if she had to give her first bath to another woman that maybe it would be like...lesbian or something. Mrs. Potts was the clinical supervisor. Her group of students included Tom, Shelby, Susan, Mary & Tiesha. All of the students met at the elevators and went up to the 5th floor together. Mrs. Potts had picked out the patients that her students would have the previous evening, based on how they were recovering. Tom was given Mrs. Lente in room 520. Susan was assigned to Ms. Parlour in 521. Mary and Tiesha had the roommates in room 522, Ms. Backman and Ms. Peters. Shelby noticed that all the patients so far were female. She was beginning to doubt that she would get her wish. Then Mrs. Potts said, "Shelby, I hope you don't mind that I had to give you a male patient. There are only 4 females on the floor at this time and Tom specifically requested that he not have to give a bath to a male patient his first time."
"Oh, no, I don't mind at all," Shelby replied. "Which room is my patient in?"
"You will have Mr. Babst in room 510," stated Mrs. Potts.
All of us went to the nurse's station to read the chart of our patient. We were instructed to see why our patient was in the hospital, what surgery they had had and when, and when was the last time pain medication was given. Mr. Babst was 40, male (of course) and here for a total knee replacement, Shelby learned. He had had surgery two days ago. He injured his knee playing softball at the company picnic. Shelby saw that his nurse, Patricia, had given Mr. Babst some Vicodin about an hour ago. 'Perfect timing,' Shelby thought. Shelby checked in with Mrs. Potts before going into the room to introduce herself to Mr. Babst. Mrs. Potts listened to Shelby relay the information she had found out, including that the Vicodin was peaking at this time and if Mr. Babst was having any pain this would be the best time to bathe him, since the Vicodin should be working at its best right now. Mrs. Potts agreed with Shelby and sent her to collect the items she would need to bathe her patient. Shelby found the clean utility room and gathered up a wash basin and a bar of soap. She then went to the linen cart and took two towels, two washcloths and a clean gown. She then proceeded down the hall with her stash and knocked on the door of room 510.
"Come in," she heard a deep voice say.
"Mr. Babst?" Shelby asked as she walked in to the room. Once she had gotten far enough into the room to close the door she did so. She walked around the curtain that was pulled to look at her patient.
"Yeah, that's me," he replied. "You must be my student nurse."
"Uhm, yes. I am. My name's Shelby. I'll be giving you a bath today. If that's okay with you, I mean," Shelby said hesitantly. As she looked at Mr. Babst she almost salivated. Her patient was a HUNK!! He must have been 6 feet tall and had the most gorgeous green eyes she had ever seen. He was wearing one of the thin cotton hospital gowns, The covers were up to his stomach, but his left leg was sticking out. As a matter of fact his left leg was in a cast from his upper thigh to his ankle and was propped up on two pillows. Shelby noticed that there was no wedding band on his left hand. She thought he must have taken it off or something, because no man that looked as good as he did could still be single. He had curly brown hair that was cut just to the nape of his neck. His hands looked so strong. Shelby must have been staring because Mr. Babst cleared his throat to get her attention.
"Please call me Stan. Mr. Babst is my father. You make me feel like an old man when you call me that," he stated. "Now for that bath, right?"
"Yes. Uhm, do you like your water to be very hot?" Shelby asked as she went to the sink and turned on the faucets. As she let the water run to get hot Shelby cleared off the bedside table so she would be able to put the basin on it once it was filled. She put the soap on the table, along with a washcloth. Shelby went back over to the sink and began filling the basin with steaming hot water. Once it was 3/4 full she carried it over to the table and put it down.
"Is this warm enough?" she asked.
Stan moved his hand to the basin and put it into the water. "Yikes! That's a little hot, don't you think?" he asked.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Let me put a little cold water in there to cool it off a bit," Shelby answered.
"No, just let it sit and cool off on it's own," Stan suggested. "You can sit down next to me and we can talk until it cools."
"Um, I'm not sure if I can do that, Mr. Babst, ah, Stan."
"Sure you can, I'm the patient and I'm asking you to give me a few minutes to rest before you give me a bath. Why don't you tell me what you're going to do to me?" Stan asked.
"I'm, I'm going to, to give you a, a bath," Shelby stammered.
"Of course you are. I mean for you to tell me in detail exactly what you are going to do to me. It will help both of us relax."
"Ok," Shelby said. "First I'm going to get the washcloth wet in the water. I'll wash your face, and then get the washcloth nice and soapy; then take off your gown and cover your chest with a towel. I'll pull the towel aside and wash the left half of your chest and your left arm and hand; rinse your left side off with the other washcloth and then dry your left side, repeating this on your right side. Then you can roll over onto your right side, with some help with your casted leg. I'll wash your back, rinse it, dry it and apply lotion and then powder. Then you can turn to your left side so I can wash the other half of your back: wash, rinse, dry, lotion and powder it. I'll wash your ass, uh, I mean, buttocks tenderly and then help you onto your back."
"That sounds delightful. Such pampering. I'm sure you give a magnificent back rub, too, don't you?" asked Stan.
"Yeah, sure if you would like one," Shelby replied.