Note: Some of the thoughts here are my own and are not meant to be offensive, it's just for sharing. Take it with a pinch of salt.
I intended to insert the during MCO entry but instead, I'm going to share with you today's entry. It was my half day on duty, which means I clock out...half-day. I was a little tired to be honest because for some reason I couldn't sleep. So I ended up looking a little bit like a zombie, but still throwing myself into work. Don't worry, I did not yawn or look sleepy. That's a big NO-NO, but you can see it's obvious that my eyes are tired.
I already knew that we're going to be busy, because since from the weekend itself, we already got our patients lined up for today. A few major dressings, a lumbar puncture, injections, IV antibiotics, few rigid sigmoidoscopy. Just your typical Tuesday.
First dressing of the day, recent cyst removal. Not that exciting. It's just the second day of dressing so you won't see much progress yet. Wound was a little too dry, my friend wanted to put something like duoderm gel to get it moist, but you know...different doctors, different preferences. Old ways, modern ways. Ours leant more on the old ways, and he's what a friend of mine calls a type A, meaning old school surgeons/ doctors. He's not unreasonable though, he's a nice man, but it takes some time getting through him. In the end, we settled for good old debridement (you can never go wrong with it).
Injections in between, mainly hormones. Don't ask me why, I'm still trying to figure it out. (I asked the doctor, but he refused to give me a straight answer, instead he asked me why I used a pseudonym and a pen name for writing)
Come during the peak hour, we got hit by the usual things: Vital signs taking, temperature taking, directions, you know, I have to switch from nurse to directory to customer service to translator, depending on the situation. Don't get me wrong, if I hated the job, I would've left long time ago, but throughout MCO, we've been working non-stop. (Don't worry, I will update the entry in future)
One day I may have to list out what patients ticks me off the most, which could be forever, but I'll say it out now. After working for years, I really...really...get pissed off when patients tend to intrude into my personal space. This includes disturbing me during before or after duty (Picture yourself: You come in early to get your things ready so that you can deliver a smooth service and someone disturbs you just to ask you for direction, or better yet, come and yell at you to serve them 'cause they are running late.), break time (It's the only time when you can relax and unwind, you don't disturb the doctors when they are on break, so why are we always an exception?) and taking photos or videos of while we are doing procedures. They are not even subtle about it. They just whip out their I-phones, smartphones and start filming and snapping photos. When you confront them about it, you will always get these answers (either one or a combination of two or more):
a) I'm just filming for my own personal record.
b) I just want to make sure that you are doing your job right.
d) Eh, I didn't know that I'm not allowed to take photos or videos.
First golden rule in hospitals : DO NOT EVER TAKE VIDEO OR PHOTOS. Seriously, before you even step foot into the place, the sign is there for crying out loud! It's the same for cinemas and court cases. Why would you take a photo or videos just to spoil it for everyone? (Look at Avengers Endgame, the Head, CEO, everyone had to plead not to spoil the movie.) It's the same for hospitals. Would you like it if someone is filming you without your consent? Doctors were complaining that their faces are somehow plastered in social media without their knowledge. Please, please, please, do DO NOT EVER TAKE VIDEO OR PHOTOS of us. It's plain rude, and furthermore...
Just because a property is open to the public doesn’t make it public property.
Military bases, crime scenes, airports, museums, energy installations, courthouses, public hospitals, and certain government facilities — while technically property owned by taxpayers — may also be physically (and sometimes photographically) off limits to photographers or subject to significant limitations for security, privacy, or logistical reasons.*
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Last procedure of the day before I wrap up: Lumbar puncture (AKA spinal tap). I just love the procedure (Not sure why, just like it), it's almost like bone marrow aspiration, except this one is where you insert a spinal needle into the spinal canal to drain out your spinal fluid (AKA Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)) for diagnostic testing. Where to begin the drama that started...
First started out we needed to get midazolam (a sedation that you typically use in short procedures like in endoscopy). Due to some issues, the drug ended up being delayed. This was around 1030hr, where some patients had came for injections and a patient on a 10-day course antibiotic. MO inserted a line for her on Saturday, but I don't know... Quality seems to be going down. You know sterile gloves, the one that is hard to tear no matter how much you tug it? One of our doctors was trying to do a catheter insertion and he just put it on after washing his hands...Riiiip. "Girl, get me a new pair. Quality nowadays is not good." (Oh dear)
Sorry for running off topic, back to the story, my friend hung the antibiotic diluted onto the stand, and --
"Your line is blocked."
Oh Lord. So we have to wait for the MO, who is busy in ER, at the same time, we got bombarded by many requests. The rooms were occupied, so we can't slot in some injections cases. At the same time, people were demanding for their vital signs and temperature to be taken. "It's just a few seconds! Why won't you attend to me?!" "What kind of service is this?!" "Your doctor hasn't come yet, do me first!" I wish some things were that simple, but when your doctor is coming in anytime, when he has gone back and forth looking increasingly annoyed... In the end, we got anclinic assistant to help out.
In between waiting for the MO, the medicine, procedures... It's like juggling several balls at once, and you cannot afford to drop even one. It was around 1130hr when we finally got the Midazolam. This young lady is strong by the way. One shot of midazolam can immediately knock me out for couple of hours. The young lady, she's still awake and alert. You can't do lumbar puncture when the patient's all awake, no way. It hurts like mad. No, we refused to serve another shot, so we waited. It was around 1200hr when the sedation finally kicks in. Even then, she's still slightly awake.
:) It worked, took a while, but it worked.
Into the procedure we go. It took forever to collect the fluid, because it dripped slow. Doctor aspirated few times with the syringe to collect some amount, still slow. It was around 1300hr when we finally managed to get enough to send for a diagnostic test.
Because it was a crazy day and I ended up overtime, I gotten the department (and myself) some ice cream to spread some cheer. Despite the sore muscles, at least we managed to get our job done and safely.
*Source: HTTPS://WWW.CLICKINMOMS.COM/BLOG/STREET-PHOTOGRAPHY-AND-THE-LAW-7-THINGS-YOU-NEED-TO-KNOW/
In between waiting for the MO, the medicine, procedures... It's like juggling several balls at once, and you cannot afford to drop even one. It was around 1130hr when we finally got the Midazolam. This young lady is strong by the way. One shot of midazolam can immediately knock me out for couple of hours. The young lady, she's still awake and alert. You can't do lumbar puncture when the patient's all awake, no way. It hurts like mad. No, we refused to serve another shot, so we waited. It was around 1200hr when the sedation finally kicks in. Even then, she's still slightly awake.
"Miss, are you still awake?"
(slightly confused)"Eh, I came here to see Doctor So-and-So."
:) It worked, took a while, but it worked.
Into the procedure we go. It took forever to collect the fluid, because it dripped slow. Doctor aspirated few times with the syringe to collect some amount, still slow. It was around 1300hr when we finally managed to get enough to send for a diagnostic test.
Because it was a crazy day and I ended up overtime, I gotten the department (and myself) some ice cream to spread some cheer. Despite the sore muscles, at least we managed to get our job done and safely.
*Source: HTTPS://WWW.CLICKINMOMS.COM/BLOG/STREET-PHOTOGRAPHY-AND-THE-LAW-7-THINGS-YOU-NEED-TO-KNOW/
