JV vs. the ER

Today was my first shift in the ER.
Dang.
I'm so tired i cant think.
Nausea, headache, dizziness, swollen ankles... and that's just me. Maybe i should go admit myself!

I'm glad i was still with my mentor because that gave us extra staff. Usually its 1 doctor + 1 nurse. We need more staff. We need more money. Aw damn! I'm gonna turn into one of those crazies ranting about the decline of healthcare.


Attention staff: could all procedures odd, stinky, or mean please be directed to JV

That's pretty much the message my mentor gave out to the other staff. I got called about IV starts (yes, i missed everyone of them. Stupid rolling, dehydrated, valve-y veins!). I got called about PICC line dressing changes (PICCs are very rare at this hospital. They are sort of like fancy longer-term IVs. I saw them alot when i did my practicum in oncology). I got called to do the dressing changes for the feet of a patient with diabetic ulcers on them (the smell! oh goodness, the smell! It thickly permeated the air).

I got called by the doctor to do a enema on a patient in the cast room. There wasn't any patient. The doctor decided to play a joke on me. Ha ha ha. Really, not funny.

At least the doctor on call today let me do other cool things. I assisted with the application of a back-slab (a half of a cast) to a fractured fibula. I followed the doctor to the Extended Care Unit and got to consult on a patient! And the x-ray technician taught me all about chest x-rays.

I hate answering the phone at work. Its scary. I never know who's going to be on the other end. Is it my co-worker's son? Is it a doctor? Is it someone trying to bring in their intoxicated spouse? Is it the ambulance announcing their arrival with some wacky patient? Today i had to answer the phone. All day. Once i answered it and the person said "oh hey JV, its your neighbour!". That was strange. I also learned today that the ambulance has its own special phone. Like the red phone on Batman. Now i just have to hope it never rings while i'm on...

I also hate the smell of work. I have this unfortunate condition whereby i will be exposed to a most disgusting stench early in my shift and for the remainder of my shift, i will continue to smell grossness. And then it follows me home. I'll be at home and i will still be able to smell something foul and will become paranoid that the smell is coming from me and maybe i should go to the hospital. It sucks.

What i do like about work: the people. Even though the malodor of the diabetic ulcers was enough to bowl me over, i had such a pleasant conversation with the patient. Even though we forgot about him for over an hour and stuck him 4 times before his IV went in, the patient kept smiling and never yelled at us and was just the sweetest man. I had to convince a young girl to stop giggling so i could prick her with a needle. There was the 3 yearold who was skeptical of me and my thermometer-gun and my blood-pressure arm squeezer but who i won over in the end. And of course, the woman who thought i was a doctor! A co-worker managed to work a Harry Potter reference into our conversation about nursing supplies. It was awesome!

It's been a wild 12 hours without coffee breaks or dinnerbreak. I think i stink (literally and figuratively). I'm tired. Slightly ornery. My legs are throbbing. My head aches. My ankles are swollen. And i'm going to go make chocolate chip cookies! And read the Sears catalogue that was just delivered to my door. In the bath! Yea!