2nd October (Thursday) - I'm working in the noon shift today, but today I was sent to the other ward. Since I already worked there once on a Sunday, I'm trying to keep an upbeat attitude for my sake and the patient's as well. And do you know? Even though it's a full house, there are some discharges and most of the patients are nice people. Really.
So to start things off, reports are taken and then since I'm still not familiar with this ward, So there are incidences where I'm at a lost to find the equipments and some of the system. Anyway, once the rounds are done, I went to write some of my reports and of course, handling drips. Since we had a patient on chemotherapy, I'm eager to try handling some chemo drugs with the protocol. So asking the med nurse for guidance, I handled some of the chemo drugs and do the hydration, which is using normal saline with potassium to flush the vein. Funnily, it wasn't so hard. All you have to do is use the protocol, double check with senior staff and you won't go wrong. Oddly, I wanted to be an oncology nurse if I couldn't make it for midwifery but my whole family shot that down because they went, "You're so young and you want to handle all these kind of toxic drugs... with the radiation?!" I mentioned this to the med nurse and she said that's not true. As long as you follow the protocol, put on your PPE and handle things properly, you won't go wrong and become sterile.
There wasn't much attendants due to them being busy with sending patients for discharges or for scans, so being the most junior staff, I volunteered to do an errand. One of the patients being discharged requested for a 6 week MC but the prof had ran off to the ward below. I think you all should know who it is by now if you had been following my previous blogs, to catch him you have to run like you are going for the Olympics, so I ran all the way down and what a relief, he's still there, but super busy talking with relatives and other profs. What could I do? I meekly stepped up and requested him to sign the MC. But I forgot to ask him how long. Luckily, the senior staff called and asked him and he answered, "4 weeks." Well, he and I had a very awkward relationship, but the senior staff assured me, "When he gets mad, it's only for that day. The next day, he'll just go up to you and say, "Hello, how are you?" " Well, okay, I'll try not too panic around him.
Then because some of the senior staff said I rarely follow profs on their doctor's rounds (I always seemed to end up doing something funny when they arrive) I took the chance and followed some of them. The first one, well, he was furious at first because a patient's family ran off without waiting for him. Each time he asked the family to wait for him, they just POOF! Disappearing act. What scares me is he grabbed the phone, dialled the number and started shouting in Cantonese about how they don't respect the his time, and how can they just keep running off when there's something important. I never seen prof/ doctors yell at patient's family before, and I swore to myself that no matter how rude some patient's families may be, if there's something important, hold them down til the prof arrives.
He then asked for a group and cross match, but he wants the nurse to do it. OMG, I was stunned but not tongue tied. I told him, "Prof, sorry I'm still rather new. Will you teach me, please?" The prof laughed and answered, "Sorry, girl. I can't teach you. This is something that you have to do on your own." :( Lucky, he got one of the senior staff to do it and I followed her to see how she take blood from the patient. Scary, I never learnt how to draw blood in my student days and I don't dare to do it without the skill. It's called bearing the responsibility and I certainly do not want to get into major trouble with the big bosses.
Then once settled, I followed another prof to a new admission. The first time I ever get to see cellulitis up close. It's red, but not as bad as another patient. It's just all red like well, a lobster. Nevertheless, he was one of the nicer prof so it was okay for me. I hovered near him but he was like, "It's okay, don't look at me. Go and do your job." So off I went, running in between hourly observations and topping up drips. Once done, I handed over the medication cardex to the med nurse so that she can prepare the new antibiotics as per order.
Things started going slightly downhill then. A prof came up and asked for the second prof whom I followed's patients. I'm a little bit blurred because :
a) I have no idea who this prof is.
b) He said someone called him but I have no idea who it was.
c) WHO IS HE???? (He overheard me on that one til he took his tag and showed it to me. How mortifying.)
Checking the board, I handed him the folder and stethoscope. He looked at me all funnily and said, "Um girl, you do know ortho surgeons don't carry stethoscopes right?" Ah, w-w-what? But the prof I followed was a nephronlogy (kidney) specialist. He doesn't use the stethoscope much but he often carries it with him. Oh dear Lord. The prof was lecturing me that only anaesthesist and cardiologist carry stethoscope, but never an ortho surgeon. I'm sorry prof. I'm SORRY.... TwT We went to the wrong patient's room, but after some confirmation from the TL, it was actually the other room. So we headed there and I was forced to assist him in his dressing, solo. I was a little panicky, again, but I managed to do some parts right, although there were some slight misses here and there, like getting a bigger gauze with the primafix. That patient's wound is bad, really bad. It's three huge infected ulcers right to the bone with slough and redness all around. And every movement caused the patient to scream and cry. It was that bad, okay. I get it why they said she need strong painkillers before each dressing, it was torture for her. In the end, the prof ordered her to do an X-Ray, and if she wants to, to consent for an I+D in the OT.
Well, in between running up and down topping up drips and observations, today is actually an okay day, aside form the near miss when I was drawing out potassium and nearly got a needle stick injury (NEARLY). My last task for the day was shaving a lady's arms and groin for an angiogram. She's a really nice lady, full of warmth and joy. The 45 minutes I spent in her room was alright. She asked me whether I liked nursing at first, and I honestly told her, that I originally wanted to be an English teacher or a journalist/ writer, and she was like, "But isn't nursing so much fun?" And I told her, it is. The 3 years I spent training to be a nurse was a hellish journey, but the reward is satisfying, where I get to meet people and help others. And she agreed and said that she wanted to be a nurse too, but couldn't get in, but she became a teacher in the end, and went on to become a publisher and commute from home. She understood my dreams to be a writer and she said, "Do you have a blog? Why not write about your nursing life?" I told her that I do, and that most people actually enjoyed reading it because it was funny. And she said, "Who knows? Maybe someone will like your writing that they'll try reading your YA fiction." I thanked her very much and wished her well as my shift come to an end. Good night all, rise and shine for morning shift tomorrow.
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