Saturday, March 26, 2005

Give Me A Break.

This post was written 2 days ago, with eyes half closed, well pissed, achy back, smelly feet, oily hair, and slight fume coming out of the auditory meatus. (read :ears) Listening to John legend- Ordinary People.

Looking after bodies plugged to the ventilator machines means that almost perfect documentation is paramount. (Us doctors battle daily with handwritings).Second to that is articulate and precise handover at end of each shift. Third to that is your greatest patience to deal with intermittent sickening arrogance.

Day started with spending whole morning DC shocking this 80 year old man in and out of ventricular tachy rhythm into asystole and back into ventricular fibrillation, jump on his chest for a minute or three. Which was most bizarre because usually most 80 year olds would have given up after 3 shocks.

I am ashamed of myself, I snorted at the A&E charge nurse because she was waving the pads in the air. But then, woman, you want to shock everybody here into Walkers crisps go ahead but wait till I’m gone and nobody touch the machine if they don’t know what they’re doing.

She’s supposed to be the charge nurse and she was waving those pads charged at 200 in the air like an air traffic warden. This is not a witchcraft academy you know. How scary is that?

After shuttling between maternity to put an epidural and the intensive care unit to stop people from dying, I was reaching 12 hr mark, hungry and tired, I stood there handing over to Koala, regurgitating the stories of why a man in his 80s had taken a space on the unit. Koala eats too much pudding for tea, has chronic attitude problem and needs to go to SpecSavers a.s.a.p because that frame is so out of date.

This man usually dresses himself and goes to Marks&Spencer by himself. I told Koala.

Koala looked at me and his face evolved into an amused, annoying mocking koala face. As if what I said was totally unnecessary.

You don’t need to tell me all that. He said what exactly I thought he’d say.

Why? What I said might not be something standard but doesn’t that sentence tell you that this man, whom you don’t know because you have been away for a week is previously a well man, who goes shopping all by himself?


To go shopping at Marks&Spencer, this man has to dress appropriately because it is quite a posh shop, meaning he has to have good dexterity to do the buttons, do his shoelace, comb his hair, flip his collar, put his cardigan and match the colour of his jacket to his socks.

Not only that, he has to get on the bus, fish the coins in his pocket, push the buttons, get off the bus and walk to Marks&Spencer. What I said painted a big big picture of a man whom tonight might go into VT again and whose life will be in your hands by proxy.

Which part is irrelevant? I might be smaller than you, younger than you, not done my exam yet but am far from talking rubbish. Don't need this thank you.

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