Start of shift
5 minutes later and 3 admissions on the way
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
This....is why everyone has VRE
When an isolation room is chock full of family members not wearing precautions
What to Look Forward To
In anticipation for my new job, I tend to be reminiscing about certain patients I had when I was in my final placement at Small Community Hospital. SCH was NOT a trauma centre so we didn't see a lot of craziness injuries, but it was the closest healthcare centre to some of the outlying burbs which were known for heavy partying.
#1 - A twenty-something dude came in with decreased LOC, probably a GCS of 8/15, was already intubated and high on god knows what. He was quickly taken to the Resuscitation Rooms just in case. We knew his name and that he was from "Province whose main language English was not" but otherwise nothing else. EMS stated his friends thought he was drunk and high on cocaine/THC. He was mostly stable but would spike his GCS and become alert enough to thrash and pull at his ETT so restraints were quickly fitted. To me it looked like he was regressing to a more primordial thought process as his primal self came through. Lucky me got to place my first OG tube, and foley the messed up yet "prime" specimen that was on the table.
This happened right at the beginning of my shift, and by the time I left 12 hours later he was alert and speaking in his dreamy Non-English Province accent. That was the first time I really saw the difference between completely corked out and normal in a patient.
#2 - This was a bipolar woman who had the benefit of being secured in a room with sliding glass doors that could be locked. She would yell and rant that she was fine and that everyone else had a problem because she could only speak Celtic (which is not a language) and the issue was just a lack of communication. Well we could understand her JUST fine.
But my favourite moment was when she was taken to the bathroom and had spent a little too much time in there, so one of the nurses asked if she needed any help. The door swung open, she yelled "Come right in!" and walked out into the centre of the acute area completely shirtless with her gravity affected mammaries swinging everywhere. As nurses scrambled to cover her up, I thought to myself while laughing uncontrollably, "I love it here!"
#3 - Then there was my first incoming Code Blue. I was in awe at how the staff worked together, though the code itself wasn't very eventful or long. The guy had suffered an asthma attack in the cold without his puffers and dropped. He had been down for too long and nothing was going to work. But the more memorable part was when his sister showed up and we had to break the news. I don't think that's something that will every be easier to hear.
#1 - A twenty-something dude came in with decreased LOC, probably a GCS of 8/15, was already intubated and high on god knows what. He was quickly taken to the Resuscitation Rooms just in case. We knew his name and that he was from "Province whose main language English was not" but otherwise nothing else. EMS stated his friends thought he was drunk and high on cocaine/THC. He was mostly stable but would spike his GCS and become alert enough to thrash and pull at his ETT so restraints were quickly fitted. To me it looked like he was regressing to a more primordial thought process as his primal self came through. Lucky me got to place my first OG tube, and foley the messed up yet "prime" specimen that was on the table.
This happened right at the beginning of my shift, and by the time I left 12 hours later he was alert and speaking in his dreamy Non-English Province accent. That was the first time I really saw the difference between completely corked out and normal in a patient.
#2 - This was a bipolar woman who had the benefit of being secured in a room with sliding glass doors that could be locked. She would yell and rant that she was fine and that everyone else had a problem because she could only speak Celtic (which is not a language) and the issue was just a lack of communication. Well we could understand her JUST fine.
But my favourite moment was when she was taken to the bathroom and had spent a little too much time in there, so one of the nurses asked if she needed any help. The door swung open, she yelled "Come right in!" and walked out into the centre of the acute area completely shirtless with her gravity affected mammaries swinging everywhere. As nurses scrambled to cover her up, I thought to myself while laughing uncontrollably, "I love it here!"
#3 - Then there was my first incoming Code Blue. I was in awe at how the staff worked together, though the code itself wasn't very eventful or long. The guy had suffered an asthma attack in the cold without his puffers and dropped. He had been down for too long and nothing was going to work. But the more memorable part was when his sister showed up and we had to break the news. I don't think that's something that will every be easier to hear.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
It Begins!
At long last I have been hired into an ER job. Yes, yes, they say you need to pay your dues before you can start getting what you want, but after applying to 5 16 29 37 job postings in a year, I am thrilled to pieces!
Actually, I went for an interview at this same hospital (Our Mother of Mercy Ghetto Hospital) about a month and half ago, and they offered me a temporary position that was only going to last five months. Sadly I had to turn it down because the Gods of Poor Timing saw fit to have my current unit (at what we shall call Other Big Hospital, which I had worked at in a year long mat leave) offer me a permanent position the day before. One might say "It's only five months, but you would probably be able to get something soon after". But I was recently recovering from Stressballitis, as I had gone 6 weeks of technical unemployment prior to this offer. I couldn't risk being unemployed again. So I took the job with all the bells and whistles a permanent position could offer.
Five weeks later, Other Big Hospital calls to schedule an interview. I light up like a fabulous fantastic Christmas Tree full of neon fireflies. Sadly I'm on nights during the first week of interviews so I have to book one the following week. During this said week of nights, OMMGH calls to say they used my same interview for another posting I applied on and are offering a full time year long temporary position. Oh Gods of Poor Timing, yet again you seek to make conflict and force me to make hard decisions. Well, I went for the interview yesterday at Other Big Hospital but accepted the temp position at OMMGH. I will literally die if OBH offers me a permanent job, but my manager has already posted my position as a temp so I'm a bit locked into it.
EITHER WAY....I'm starting in the ER. At OMMGH where I'll be over run with drunks and druggies. Yay.
But...it's only a year and the experience will no doubt make it super easy to get into OBH down the road.
The first couple of weeks will be in-class education with computer modules (secretly I'm glad there will actually be computer modules), but I'm over the moon excited nonetheless. I'm vibrating down to my toes with anticipation.
*Bouncing around the room in case you didn't notice*
Actually, I went for an interview at this same hospital (Our Mother of Mercy Ghetto Hospital) about a month and half ago, and they offered me a temporary position that was only going to last five months. Sadly I had to turn it down because the Gods of Poor Timing saw fit to have my current unit (at what we shall call Other Big Hospital, which I had worked at in a year long mat leave) offer me a permanent position the day before. One might say "It's only five months, but you would probably be able to get something soon after". But I was recently recovering from Stressballitis, as I had gone 6 weeks of technical unemployment prior to this offer. I couldn't risk being unemployed again. So I took the job with all the bells and whistles a permanent position could offer.
Five weeks later, Other Big Hospital calls to schedule an interview. I light up like a fabulous fantastic Christmas Tree full of neon fireflies. Sadly I'm on nights during the first week of interviews so I have to book one the following week. During this said week of nights, OMMGH calls to say they used my same interview for another posting I applied on and are offering a full time year long temporary position. Oh Gods of Poor Timing, yet again you seek to make conflict and force me to make hard decisions. Well, I went for the interview yesterday at Other Big Hospital but accepted the temp position at OMMGH. I will literally die if OBH offers me a permanent job, but my manager has already posted my position as a temp so I'm a bit locked into it.
EITHER WAY....I'm starting in the ER. At OMMGH where I'll be over run with drunks and druggies. Yay.
But...it's only a year and the experience will no doubt make it super easy to get into OBH down the road.
The first couple of weeks will be in-class education with computer modules (secretly I'm glad there will actually be computer modules), but I'm over the moon excited nonetheless. I'm vibrating down to my toes with anticipation.
*Bouncing around the room in case you didn't notice*
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