Have you ever heard the call-signal in a hospital for one of the rooms, only to discover it came from another room?

Hallmond Hospital; Cathedral Park and St. Johns Neighborhood; Portland, Oregon. Present Day …

Sheila knew it was almost the end of first shift when she saw one of the janitors push his work-cart out of the elevator and made his way down one of the long halls housing several patients.

Two more beeping, lit signals alerted all the nurses on the second floor about two more patients needing attention. She was grateful Melissa, one of the recent-hires, jumped from one of the chairs in the nurses’ office and quickly walked to one of those strobing lights… Sheila didn't see any of the other CNAs, nor nurses, for that matter. They were all too busy working with other patients.

So that left Sheila…

She sighed, glancing at the second strobing light that still demanded attention at the far end of the hall. Since the senior nurse on duty was in a meeting, Sheila knew the responsibility fell to her. Adjusting her scrubs, she started down the long corridor, her footsteps echoing against the sterile tile floor. Sheila wondered if she was suffering from burnout. In her early-thirties, it seemed a bit too early in her career to exhibit burnout!

She walked past several open doors, catching glimpses of patients in various states of rest and recovery. The steady hum of medical equipment and distant conversations created a familiar backdrop to her thoughts. As she approached the room with the beckoning signal light, Sheila took a deep breath and pushed aside her worries about burnout – there was work to be done.

As it turned out, the patient in 212 simply wanted a pillow placed behind his knees! Sheila wished all the other tasks with the patients were that easy!

She was heading back to the nurses’ office when head-nurse Renée strode towards the big cubicle-structure; the office windows forming one big arc.

“Bastards,” Renée blurted as she dropped her pile of paperwork onto a cleared area of workspace. “They're eliminating two more contracted nurses! Guess who'll have to pick up all that extra work?”

Obviously, Renée was being rhetorical. Stacey, another CNA, had just finished with one of the patients and quietly joined in the conversation. She stood next to Sheila; both letting the middle-aged woman vent. “Look, I get that even hospitals are businesses, but running a healthcare facility is not the same as running a restaurant!”

Renée massaged her temples, a gesture that spoke volumes about her frustration. "And now they want us to implement some new charting system next month. As if we don't have enough on our plates already!"

Sheila and Stacey glanced at each other with pondering eyes!

“Yeah, Sparky,” Renée sarcastically addressed the two certified nurse aides! “Now we get to worry about getting pathogens all over our devices while we change open wounds…”

A single beeping had gone off while Renée was talking. She was so upset she hadn't noticed. But all three turned their heads toward the Gen-Xer janitor standing next to the office's open doorway.

“Hi, ladies…I don't mean to break up your meeting, but, uhh…” Thad pointed with one of his thumbs, towards the end of the longest hallway. “That beeping is coming from 230…”

“You mean 229,” Sheila said. She started to go to 229 until Thad politely held up a hand.

“I double-checked; it's coming from room 230!”

Now the head-nurse and the two CNAs looked upon each other with bewildered faces!