First Clinic Scheduled

5-October-2004, Tuesday, 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Waldbaums in Lawrence, NY

Procedure states to arrive 1 hour prior to set up equipment, introduce yourself to store personnel, begin required paperwork, answer questions asked of your potential patients.

Before I am leaving to drive to my destination the phone rings. The agency states they are having difficultly reaching the 2nd nurse. Well, that won't be a real problem, I thought. I've been in tougher situations before. I'll go with the flow, just like all the rest of my nurse friends and colleagues. I switched gears to the Nurse mantra: Expect the unexpected.

Several moments into the drive, 1010 WINS News Radio announced a flu vaccine shortage. Chiron operations had been suspended in the UK and the U.S. would have its vaccine supply cut in half. I wondered what effect that would have upon the scheduled clinics? Every nurse scheduled for these clinics, as well as the agency would soon find out. Arriving at the clinic, only 3 patients were waiting for the 3pm start time. Not too bad. No other nurse followed, so I began. The first half hour was similar to the video I had seen only a few days ago. After that, the best way to describe the situation was synchronized pandemonium.

As more of my potential vaccine patients arrived, some in the crowd became, well, let's just say "Rowdy." One man demanded to know why the clinic wasn't staffed with another nurse. Another man began arguing with two ladies letting them know in no uncertain terms that he was BEFORE them. Some of the group began defending my lone position in front of the pharmacy. "Leave her alone! Don't you see how hard she's working?" Gee, that video I had seen? It was a tropical vacation compared to this reality. However my priority was vaccination, paperwork and collecting the monies for private fees. Nurse, secretary and treasurer. Crowd control would need to be handled by someone else. And it was.

The store manager, John and one of his employees, Diane were so much help in this area I can't begin to thank them enough. Clinic progressed at a rather rapid pace; soon my manila envelope where I placed 20 dollar bills for private pay looked like the tissue paper surrounding presents in boxes under the Christmas tree, overflowing without rhyme or reason. (The actress in the video did not seem to have this problem.) More potential patients streamed in, by now many had heard of the shortage and were commenting as they received their injections. I continued vaccinating, collecting fees, filling out paperwork. And on and on it went. Work continued taking on a factory resemblance; but these were human beings, not parts. I was amazed at the masses.

And responsible for them. Close to 6pm, Kathy the pharmacist came to my table with a quart of Orange Juice. It was the best Orange Juice I have ever had. By 6:30pm I counted the remaining syringes. There were 10 left. And then I counted the line. There were 17 patients remaining. I asked Kathy if she could supply 7 more syringes to complete the clinic. She was able to accommodate the request. At the same time a woman on the line told me she worked for a surgeon in Garden City and offered to help with any paperwork to finish clinic. I was so grateful. I asked her to pull up a chair. This part wasn't in the video either but desperate times call for desperate measures. Her name was Linda.

Clinic had to be completed. Patients had to be vaccinated. We ended officially at 7:20 pm. Everyone on line that evening received their vaccines. It would be the only clinic I worked where that would occur. So I would like to thank John, Diane, Kathy and Linda for what you did not HAVE to do, but did anyway. You made those 5 hours and twenty minutes which went by in a flash, bearable. And I send you my eternal gratitude.

Total vaccines administered: 112