The Rabbit Nurse

Illustration by Lynda Richardson

In this series of articles, prior to today we have discussed only 1 type of nurse species, the Alpha Nurse, a bold, go-getting variety of the species that is commonly found throughout the Healthcare Habitat. However, the nurse genus is very diverse, with massive variations occurring between different species, to the point where they practically incomparable or the polar opposite of the Alphas. One such species is the rabbit nurse.

Rabbit nurses are found in all sorts of environments, helping run wards, clinics and offices in practically every department that an explorer can be required to visit. Though fairly difficult to identify from others of the nurse genus purely from appearance, the a rabbit nurse gives itself away during conversation and interaction.

When confronted by an explorer, the species suddenly experiences a "rabbit-in-headlights" effect, making them rather nervous or uncertain as to how best approach this strange outsider. This may be due to a lack of experience in what explorers (or at least the type that will gradually metamorphose into doctor species - the effect is less apparent during interaction with pre-nurse explorers) are trained to do, making rabbit nurses wary of trusting explorers to fulfil tasks safely or effectively. Given that the consequences of any explorer's error would predominantly be directed towards the rabbit nurse rather than the explorer, this is an understandable survival mechanism on the species behalf.

This can at times become frustrating for explorers, who can often find themselves sidelined during their time with members of the species. There are few occurrences more annoying for an explorer than being about to perform a skill on a patient, doing all the pre-skill preparations, obtaining permission from the patient and getting to the crucial moment only for the rabbit nurse that is supervising you to change her mind at the last second, taking over the task and leaving the explorer looking foolish in the eyes of the patient.

This, combined with the fact that it can be difficult to sign off on tasks if you don't get the opportunity to perform them, can make it easy for an explorer to become irked at working with the species. However, in their defence, it is ultimately not the rabbit nurse's intention to embarrass their accompanying explorer - they are merely following the protocol of "safety first" (something that is hammered into all species in the Healthcare Habitat on a regular basis), and if they are worried that a patient is going to be caused unnecessary stress through an explorer's action, they are justified in their indecision.

Explorers who are about to spend time under the supervision of a rabbit nurse should take a few seconds to introduce themselves to the individual in a friendly manner - if the nurse believes that you are pleasant and enthusiastic they will be more likely to trust you with tasks. A second step is to improve the individual's understanding of an explorer's capabilities. This can be done by showing them a list of tasks that you are expected to fulfil, thereby making it clear to the individual that you are expected by others to be able to achieve these tasks, helping them justify allowing you to step in for them and reducing the risk of a last-minute intervention  stealing away another skill opportunity.

The Rabbit nurse, like all other nurse species, are for the most part friendly - it is often a simple lack of clarity in an explorer's capabilities that provokes them to exclude explorers from involvement. A friendly, well informed understanding can mean an explorer will get countless opportunities to achieve the goals of their time alongside the rabbit nurse.