"Don't forget what you learnt in the process of gaining new knowledge"
Edith paused her advice before asking.
"Did you get to know who your supervisor is ?"
Today is Joan's first day in the maternity ward. She came to the general ward early in the morning, to greet Edith before reporting for duty.
Her showing intentions of wanting to keep in touch, not only carry the good will and hints of passing nostalgia, realistically, it also carries the weight of building connections within the work community. Moreover, Edith herself is a person worth knowing and interacting with, be it her professionalism or her way of handling things, even after having experience for a couple of years, she is a person she can still learn from.
"Not yet," Joan replied with a faint smile.
"Then take your time to get to know her, and don't rush to prove yourself. Watch first, ask second, and only then act."
"Very well"
"Well, I don't have much other advice, you did very well here , Just keep doing the same…."
"Thank you ... .see you soon, " Joan replied briefly as time to report was closing.
Joan hurried to the third floor, thankfully she wasn't late.
As soon as she entered the ward, she heard a woman's shrill scream from the room at the end of the hallway. After a moment, she could distinguish another sound beneath it—the intermittent cries of newborn infants coming from somewhere deeper inside the ward.
The room before her has sixteen beds with eight on each side, most evidently, the prenatal ward. Even with sixteen beds, fewer than half were occupied. Hospital births were still far less common than deliveries at home.
Even as Joan continued to contemplate easily, the woman still couldn't rest for a dozen seconds between her screams.
"Are you the new transfer?" Another tall nurse with a very clean prone walked to Joan asking after seeing her dazed at the front door.
"Yes, I'm Joan Blackwood, pleasure to make your acquaintance"
"Same here, I'm Vera Harford, and I will be your supervisor··· Hope you can learn well" Vera answered with a flat tone. Vera's calm gray eyes betrayed little enthusiasm, though nothing suggested hostility either.
"As you can see, our ward isn't as famous as the general ward, or any other one, we can be free for as long as days, before we get busy with a couple or more cases."
"First, let's go on a quick round around the ward, so you can learn the basics easier"
"As you might have already guessed, here is the prenatal ward, women who are admitted, usually remain for a several hours to several days, depending on their condition days··· you have already learnt how to assist with basic necessities, measuring the temperature and pulse, so what you need is to strengthen the fundamentals, while adjusting to the maternity ward's rhythm."
While talking, Joan noticed the woman's hoarse voice in the background came to an abrupt end after a dozen of higher hollow cries, indicating the end of the birth, hopefully with a good result.
"You will be provided with extra aprons which you'll have to keep clean as much as you can, you can take it from the utility room at the back"
"The postpartum ward, as you can see, is a little bigger than the parental ward, and has a couple of more beds. Most of the people who chose to give birth at the hospital are in a dangerous situation, which will lead to be under watch for longer periods of time, from several of days to few weeks "
Vera explained the reason patiently in a low tone, afraid of waking up the finally falling asleep infants and their guardian mother.
After the nursery and the utility rooms, and passing by a row of private rooms, which isn't allowed to inter except for the assigned private nurse, what was left was the delivery room which was still occupied with a couple of family members waiting by its door.
Just as they wanted to head back, a nurse emerged carrying a newborn wrapped snugly in a white blanket.
"Both the mother and the baby are fine. Congratulations, it's a boy, and the mother will be out in a moment"
"Ooh, I have a grandson" Said a middle aged woman, breaking the dazed silence, before everyone erupted in cheers....
Relief spread through the corridor almost instantly.
What do of Vera? Share your thoughts on the comments?