Kicked off the 4th Floor....Who would have thought?

Norms are the unwritten, unspoken rules that govern a group. When you are a new member of the group it is VERY important to pick up on these rules as quick as possible so that you can fit in. Some places have learned that the quickest way to make outsiders into members of a group is to have these norms converted into written, easy to understand rules. I first learned about norms at the DLE (Director of Lifespan Education) Kickoff Weekend for our church, Accotink Unitarian Universalist Church, last fall. But since then I have looked for them everywhere.

The most recent run-in with norms was the 4th floor (psych ward) of Fairfax INOVA Hospital. Every morning starts with a community meeting. The therapist running the meeting rattles off the rules of the ward. All of this stuff is old hat to them but brand new for the people who are there for the first time. This is just WONDERFUL (sarcasm) for those those of us who are visual learners. For me, the rules went in one ear and out another. I was finally able to get a written version on my LAST day in the ward. That was on day 10 of my stay. By then I had figured out the rules and discovered who "ran" the floor (this wasn't the doctors, nurses or technicians by the way).

There was another rumor of a rule that I heard a lot while in-patient. It was that patients who are released can not come back to visit for a certain period of time. The rumors ranged from 30 to 60 days before you could come back. Well tonight I decided to see if that rule was correct. I have several friends who are in-patient now and I wanted to visit them. A few of my friends have become patients AFTER being in the partial hospitalization program (PHP) that I attend. There are other friends who are still patients from the time when I was a patient. And finally one of my previous roommates from the 4th floor has returned to in-patient status. I showed up during visiting hours (6pm-8pm) and said I was there to visit my former roommate. She is a very nice, older black woman who does'nt get many visitors because she isn't from this area. When I talked to her on the phone earlier in the evening I asked her if she would like me to visit and she said yes. I asked her to put on her red outfit (my personal favorite) and said I would be there soon. I grabbed half my sugar free candy stash for all the patients who's mouths are always dry because of the meds and headed off to see the gang.

I arrived at 6:30 and signed in at the nurse's station facing the elevator. You could tell the person at the desk knew me from somewhere but she just wasn't sure from where. In order to figure out the room my former roommate was now residing in I check THE BOARD. All knowledge is derived from THE BOARD - Patient names, assigned nurses and doctors, and the group all patients belong to. I discovered that my former roommate was in the last room on the hall I used to be on. I went down to find her and had a brief moment of panic as I discovered the rooms didn't have ROOM NUMBERS. See, the 4th floor psych ward is in the old part of Fairfax Hospital and it is sort of falling apart. Don't get me wrong I love the Engineering team. They are a hard working group who didn't laugh at me when I told them that I really wish my room had a room number (I couldn't find my room and being lost is one of my biggest fears). I knocked on the door and when I got no response from the room my roommate was supposed to be in I headed back to the nurses station where the nurse informed me that she was in creative arts (Why she didn't mention that earlier I do not know). I wandered down to the most amazing art studio hidden in Northern Virginia. My former roommate was busy finishing her painting so I agreed to meet with her later. I went to the dining area and plopped down with 3 other friends and one Dad (who had just driven down from OHIO - DADS ROCK). I passed the sugar free candy to the man who got me through my stay on the 4th floor. Basically I felt that the candy should stay with him since if the staff got it, it would become the STAFF'S candy when it was brought for the patients.

20 minutes into my stay a nurse came in to tell me I had to leave because (is everyone ready for the RULE) patients can not return until 6 MONTHS after they leave. 6 Months??? Are you kidding me? She told me I could talk to the charge nurse but that would have been confrontational and I can't do that. Oh and by the way the reason she remembered me was because I taught her how to make my origami unit ornament. So for all of you who think my "I'm a great teacher" comments are over the top.... remember it got me thrown off the 4th floor.

Take Care,
Daria