When Christmas is over, eyes gradually turn towards New Year’s Eve. Then, for many, it’s time to refill the raclette pan as often as necessary to undo the trouser button. Then watch “Dinner for one” at least once more, before it’s midnight and you can toast with a glass of sparkling wine. Finally, a look into the new year is dared with the help of funny figures that the wax casting has formed – these traditions have become so burned into the last evening of each year that something superstitious is attached to them: If something is missing on this evening, it can’t do anything bode well for the new year.
Now you might think that there is no such thing in a clinic. Medical parameters count here, and therefore science – there is no room for any silly superstition. But: Far from it!
For example a colleague of mine. It’s been a while since she was new to ICU. Her early night shifts were quiet, so that night she brought her tablet with her to read a bit during her break. I was on duty too – it turned into one of the worst night shifts I had experienced in a long time: one of my patients collapsed in my arms, we had to resuscitate her. A little later, a new patient came who had been resuscitated in the ambulance. Three more patients followed – one required isolation, another required bedside surgery. Everything happened at the same time, it seemed to us. A proper break was out of the question. It was a horror night.
When we were changing in the changing room at the end of the shift, my colleague, who was still relatively new at the time, said to us: “It can’t be done – I only have my tablet with me once and then it’s going to be such a bad night!” She swore to all of us that she would never take it to work again. To the best of my knowledge, to date, she has not done so.
Intensive care specialist Pola Gülberg from the Ebersberger district clinic.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
By the way, some people in the clinic do it that way. Anyone who has brought something with them for the first time and then experienced terrible service will almost certainly leave it at home next time.
For some, superstition even determines clothing. For example, one of our internists has never worn white socks to work for years. He did that in his early years, the shifts back then were stressful and sometimes terrible, he once told me – until he started wearing colorful socks. hey presto! – everything has relaxed a bit. And if things get stressful and he’s working, we’d be happy to make sure that he really isn’t wearing white socks.
Pola Gülberg is an intensive care nurse. In this column, the 38-year-old talks about her work at the district clinic in Ebersberg every week. The collected texts are below sueddeutsche.de/thema/Auf Station to find.