January 4, 2013
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It’s warm. On a beach. And….
“Is it gonna hurt?” the 10 year old fidgeted on the exam table.
“Well…” I don’t like to say it doesn’t, because it is a needle.
“It’s gonna hurt a lot!” his sister, 7 years old, exclaimed from across the room.
“You’re mean!” he scowled.
Mom explained. “He laughed at her the last time she got shots.”
The sister chuckled. “It’s payback time.”
“It’s okay… just pretend you’re somewhere else,” I began, while gathering my supplies to the left side of the table.
“Imagine that it’s not cold outside.. it’s actually really warm, and you’re on a beach.” I lifted up the sleeve of his shirt and began to wipe alcohol over his deltoid muscle. ”There is soft, white sand, and the water is warm and crystal clear. Down below you can actually see…” I unsheathed the needle and was just about to jab…
“A shark!!!!” his sister blurted.
“What!!” my patient gasped.
I stopped mid air. I cannot believe this! This sneaky, sly, sister just completely messed up my distraction method, yo.
Quickly, I tried to redirect his attention. “Um no! It’s not a shark.. it’s uhh. uhh.. colorful pretty fish.. that are friendlyyyyy…like Finding Nemo… yeah.. um.. like Dori…” I reswabbed him with alcohol and quickly inserted the flu vaccine into his muscle.
He gritted his teeth. It was too late. The damage was done. His flu shot hurt more than expected and it certainly wasn’t because of me.
Across from him, his sister smirked with success written all over her face.
LOL.
I love being a nurse. Never a dull moment. Ever.
Comments (3)
wow I had no ideas 7 year olds were so smart and sneaky! and mean!
Ah, true sibling infighting. What a clever calculated move by his younger sister to torment her brother….he’s gonna have problems with her…haha!
ack! my siblings and i fought, but i don’t think we were ever that mean. it’s pretty funny, though. she’s got talent.