The nursing documentation spot check was scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
The Emergency Department was exceptionally busy that day. In the morning, there had been three cases of febrile seizures, an elderly patient with chest pain, and a middle-aged man whose face was covered in blood after falling while drunk. Shen Nanxing had barely sat down all morning. She had eaten only half a lunchbox when the people from the nursing department arrived just as she was preparing to complete the records.
Two teachers carrying tablets went straight into the nurses' station.
The head nurse's expression tightened, and she immediately went over to them. “The Emergency Department has been a little busy today. Everyone is occupied.”
“We know.” The nursing department teacher smiled. “It's a random spot check. We won't take long.”
Their words were polite, but their movements were swift. They selected several nursing records belonging to patients under observation, and one happened to be for Bed Seven, which was Shen Nanxing's responsibility.
Shen Nanxing stood nearby, her heart already beginning to tighten with unease.
Bed Seven was the elderly patient with chest pain from that morning. His condition had been complicated when he arrived, with numerous family members and many examinations. She remembered completing his vital signs and treatment records, but because the resuscitation room had called for someone midway through, one pain assessment might have been added afterward.
Sure enough, the nursing department teacher quickly pointed it out. “The pain assessment recorded at this time was not sufficiently standardized, and the continuity between entries was not rigorous.”
The head nurse looked at Shen Nanxing.
Shen Nanxing explained, “The patient had gone for an examination. I completed another assessment after he returned, but the time may not have been adjusted accurately.”
“Nursing records are not memoirs.” The teacher's tone was not harsh, but every word was clear. “What was done and when it was done must both be recorded accurately. The hospital is emphasizing quality management now. Details like this cannot go wrong.”
Shen Nanxing felt her face grow warm. “I understand. I will correct it immediately.”
Xiao Zhou stood to one side, looking at her worriedly.
After the spot check ended, the head nurse called Shen Nanxing into the office.
“Nanxing, you're an experienced nurse. This kind of problem shouldn't have come from you.”
Shen Nanxing lowered her head. “It was too busy this morning. I didn't check carefully when I completed the records afterward.”
“Being busy isn't an excuse.” The head nurse sighed. “What time is this? The hospital is keeping a close eye on data and quality. If the nursing department records a situation like this, it will be bad for the hospital department and for you personally.”
Shen Nanxing tightened her grip on the pen in her hand. “I will improve.”
“There's more.” The head nurse's tone softened slightly. “The people above may be reviewing individual performance assessment results and error records recently, so be careful. I'm not trying to scare you. During the reform period, any minor problem will be magnified.”
When Shen Nanxing left the office, she felt as though an entire basin of cold water had been poured over her.
The nursing records did indeed contain a flaw, and she admitted that. But she also knew it was not because she had been careless. It was because the Emergency Department was perpetually understaffed, the patients were perpetually numerous, while the documentation requirements grew more detailed every year. During a resuscitation, they demanded that she be fast; when documenting, they demanded accuracy; when facing complaints, they demanded patience; and during an evaluation, they demanded perfection.
No one asked how a person could avoid the slightest crease while being pulled in four directions at once.
Before the end of the afternoon shift, the son of the elderly patient in Bed Seven came to the nurses' station with an examination order in his hand. His tone was much gentler than it had been that morning.
“Nurse, my dad just said his chest feels much better. You were all pretty busy this morning too. Thank you.”
Shen Nanxing looked up and smiled. “It's what we should do. Still, you need to follow the doctor's instructions and not get out of bed casually.”
“All right.”
After the family member left, she lowered her head and continued correcting the records. The words on the screen were densely packed, and her eyes felt somewhat sore.
Xiao Zhou quietly handed her a cup of hot water. “Teacher Shen, don't feel too bad. We all know how busy you were this morning.”
Shen Nanxing accepted the cup. “A mistake is a mistake.”
“But they shouldn't look only at that one mistake, should they?”
Shen Nanxing did not answer.
The remark was too naive, yet also too heartbreaking. In the hospital's evaluation system, sometimes they really did look only at that one mistake. Saving several people, comforting countless family members, and covering for numerous newcomers were all difficult to turn into points. But one omitted item, one complaint, or one late arrival could leave a perfectly clear trace.
When she returned home that evening, Gu Cheng'an asked why she looked so pale.
Shen Nanxing told him about the spot check.
Gu Cheng'an frowned. “Then you really do need to be careful. The hospital is tightening quality control now, and documentation problems are easily magnified.”
Shen Nanxing looked at him, and the small hope in her heart of being comforted sank again.
“I know.”
Gu Cheng'an was about to say something else when his mother-in-law came out of the kitchen. “What documentation? Did you make a mistake at work?”
“It's nothing serious,” Shen Nanxing said.
Her mother-in-law immediately grew tense. “Even if it's nothing serious, you still have to be careful. Cheng'an is at a critical point right now. Don't cause any unpleasant trouble at the hospital.”
The moment those words were spoken, Shen Nanxing set down even her chopsticks.
She finally understood that in this family, the first concern regarding her mistakes was not whether she would feel aggrieved or be punished, but whether they would affect Gu Cheng'an.
That night, she sat at the desk and reread the nursing documentation standards.
As she read, she suddenly found it laughable.
Twelve years had passed, yet she was still proving that she could not make mistakes.