Night Watch: Box Hill Hospital emergency department nurse Daniel Halls
Every shift is different in Box Hill Hospital’s emergency department after dark. When that door swings open, nurses like Dan Hall are never sure who will walk through the door … but some are scarier than others.
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When the door to the emergency department swings open, a nurse doesn’t know who will come through.
And it doesn’t matter if the patient is being rolled in on a stretcher or walking in themselves — it could a life or death situation.
“An ambulance could bring in someone with a broken foot or someone who is having a stroke,” says Box Hill Hospital emergency department associate nurse unit manager Dan Hall.
“And it’s the same for people walking in the door, it could be someone with workplace injury or it could be someone having a heart attack.”
One terrifying but exhilarating experience will stick with him for life — helping to deliver a baby.
The then-junior nurse was asked to attend to a man who had walked through the hospital’s emergency department at 3am as the night unit manager was busy with another patient.
“I was on night shift and a man came in saying his wife needed help,” Mr Hall said.
By the time the pair had walked out to help the man’s wife in the carpark, the baby’s head was already out.
“With baby in hand I tried to find something warm for it while I was rubbing it to stimulate breathing,” he said.
The triage team was soon on the scene and the healthy baby taken to the nursery while its mother received post-natal care.
“It was a great but terrifying experience,” he said.
“That sticks with me. You always remember the first baby you deliver.”
Today Mr Hall is now responsible for leading a team and, while no shift is ever the same, he loves what he does.
“Every day is going to be different, you don’t know what will come in the door,” he said.
He said while there can be worrying times in the department, it’s scary for everyone involved including the patients.
“People come in with legitimate worries for their health,” Mr Hall said.
“The fight or flight instinct kicks in.
“But we have lots of training on how to deal with these patients.”
He said occasionally you have a person come in who is more frightening than others but there is a procedure and support personnel nearby, including security and police.
“You go through the basics and what you can to manage the situation,” he said.
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