Typical Day
Nurse Karen wakes up at 8:00AM and reviews the files of the day's patients over a cup of tea (coffee will stunt your growth and ruin your teeth, of course). Being a full-time home care nurse, she'll see six patients over the course of the day.
Lucky for Karen, all of her patients are in the same zip code, so driving around today won't be a total nightmare. She'll only put about thirty miles on the car—not bad. She finishes her tea, gathers her supplies, and heads for the door, keys in hand.
First stop: Her "bro," Ken Trainor, recovering from a broken foot. He's a runner and man, does he want to run again. Ken's break was particularly nasty, causing him to develop acute tendonitis, so he hired Karen to help him with his physical therapy at home. Karen vows to have him running again, but Ken will have to pay close attention and follow her instructions.
"Hey bro Ken, how's it going?" Nurse Karen says as she walks in.
"Fine…" Ken says from the living room. He's watching tapes of his old races and sighing.
"Ken, what did we talk about? Quit your wallowing! We're going to get you back on that track in no time. Have you been taking your meds and doing your exercises?"
"Every morning."
"That's my bro!"
Ken rolls his eyes.
Nurse Karen takes Ken through a number of foot and ankle exercises to loosen up the tendons and increase the range of motion. Afterwards, she gives Ken a list of more advanced exercises for the week, hoping to increase his progress. Before leaving, she makes some notes in her car to remind herself to consider bringing some steroid injections for his tendon (source).
Second stop: Grandma Cathy, a patient with multiple sclerosis. She's not really Karen's grandmother, but Karen has been her home care nurse for five years and is basically family. Cathy has a live-in aide, so Nurse Karen uses her time to check in on Cathy's physical state, adjusting her dietary and activity regimens as needed.
Grandma seems to be doing just fine today, so Karen decides to keep with the regular routines for the next week. Before Karen leaves, Grandma asks a couple of probing, good-natured questions about Karen's love life, the way a true Grandma would. Karen laughs, gives Grandma a hug, carefully dodging her questions.
"Oh dear, I almost forgot," she adds. "My granddaughter has a play at the end of the month. I don't normally leave the house because of all these contraptions and medications and what-not, but I'd like to be able to go to her play."
Nurse Karen makes a note to get Grandma Cathy prepped for a big night out before moving on to her next few patients.
The next four visits go by quickly and without incident. Some blood work, some urine samples, some meetings with spouses and family members to update them on their family member's state. Then she's off to drop off her samples at the lab and pick up a few prescriptions at the pharmacy (source).
By now, it's 4:45PM and she wants to go home, eat take out, and watch Grey's Anatomy. She has a patient tomorrow who will always spoil the episode for her if she isn't caught up.