International Emergency Nursing (2012) 20, 51

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Personal Reflection – Laughter and Tears

Accidents and emergencies – laughter and tearsWhere some diagnoses means confronting deep fearsSometimes quite serious and often ‘more of the same’Accidents, illness and violence, a most diverse game

Sometimes great pain and frequently quite minorSignificant injury or the occasional shinerThe classic ‘chest pain’ or the child’s pebble in the noseFor each member of staff a meaningful response required oftheir pose.

For women and men and those who don’t knowThe rich and the poor and the ordinary Joe,The old and the young, all colours and creedsUnusual, quite usual and criminal deeds

Fear – often great, in an awkward space, Pain and anxietyetched on the facePatients too many, staff too few to carry out what it is theyreally want to doChairs instead of beds, corridors, corners and places,For listening and caring? For tubes and anxious ECG traces?

Media portrayal – Casualty and ER, compared with the realthing – not on a parBeautiful staff with lives quite tragic – dramatised parts toachieve TV magicBlue sirens wailing, bombs, bullets and fire,Neglecting the drama of normal life’s mire

In fact ordinary souls do the job each day, Most trying theirbest in a chaotic foray,Often it is asked whether or not they care, how hard must itbe to see life’s tragedies laid bareSome staff do it well, others need time, Some need a rest,and a few are wrapped up in the me and the I’m

doi:10.1016/j.ienj.2012.03.001

The shrill ring of the resus phone pierces the day, bringingwith it a fragile life to saveAdrenaline surges in all who must deal, great effort is madewith genuine zest and with zealSuccess is survival, a person who lives, or great sadness forloved ones, bad news to give,But even these moments with satisfaction can swell, be-cause of compassion and a job done well

But all is not drama or emergency as in the nameQuiet sadness and distress also in the frameSatisfaction to be had from listening to a story unfoldUnderstanding the power of a hand to hold

Doctors and nurses, great teams in the mainAll sorts and all sizes and some a little insaneMuch fun is had and moments of laughterAnd always a wise crack to be made just after

Is the laughter to cope or is it quite cruelIs it to keep people going, a kind of fuelFrustration and anger and tiredness aboundBut compassion and caring nearly always found

So – Accident and Emergency- does this verse cover its scopeProbably not but I live in hope that a little of life in ED isshownMaybe you reconsidered what you thought was alreadyknown?

Dr Raphaela Kane, RGN, PhD, BSc(Hons),DIPN(Lond), RNT Lecturer in Nursing,

Director of Academic Practice School of Nursing,Dublin City University,

Dublin.E-mail address: raphaela.m.kane@dcu.ie