The emergency room was absolutely chaotic that Friday night, the kind of shift that makes even veteran nurses question their career choices. The waiting room was overflowing with impatient and angry people. It was so unbearably noisy. The treatment area was a total mess. Alarms going off everywhere. Gurneys being wheeled down the hallway left and right. I had been on my feet for 10 hours straight. Over 5 patients needed me at the exact same time. My back hurt so badly. It was the kind of environment where compassion usually gets replaced by survival instincts, just trying to get through the night without a disaster. I was assigned to check on an elderly woman in Room 4 named Mrs. Higgins, who had been admitted earlier with severe, erratic chest pains and shortness of breath.
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