Waiting

I am first on tonight with the traveling midwife who is here to fill in for Jenny who left to go on vacation. I miss Jenny; at first I was kind of intimidated by her but I grew to really like her style and her quiet sense of humor. I am the kind of person who spends a lot of time trying to understand what is below everyone's surface (especially in a situation like this where you are under DIRECT supervision) and I finally felt like I had a grip on the midwives here...

Anyway, I am here from 6pm to 6am and I was seriously hoping no one would come in. Of course the phone rang at 10:00 ( there are a lot of rules regarding phone calls and also just a lot of responsibility - I would never forgive myself if I misunderstood critical client information because I don't understand Spanish ) with a primip contracting q15 (lasting 20 seconds)across the border in Juarez, Mexico. The traveling midwife doesn't speak Spanish so even though it is in direct conflict with the phone rules she makes you handle the calls. I will be honest and tell you that this responsibility is horrible to me. If you think you don't speak Spanish face to face wait until you see how much you don't speak it over the phone.

If I were back at home and a primip called me contracting q15 I would tell her to go to sleep and that I would see her in the morning but here because there is crossing the border to deal with we have to have them come to the clinic.

Anyway, I did a labor check, had my skills quite thoroughly questioned, and as far as I think right now nothing is going on. I am seriously hoping to send her out to sleep and see her in a day or so. I feel seriously uncomfortable in my current clinical setting.