i worked a 12 hour shift yesterday, then came home just in time to run, get groceries, cook dinner, eat and then get to bed a bit too late. livvie was kind enough to do laundry which, by weight, was 99% my things. of that, 90% of that amount was scrubs. it's nice to be able to work in clothes that: don't cost anything (usually provided by the hospital), maintenence free, extremely comfortable and body-fluid resistant. what more could i ask for? here's what about 20 pairs of clean srubs looks like:
scrubs are actually getting harder and harder to come by. university hosp recently instituted a poilcy of only dispensing scrubs out of machines that require return of a soiled pair.
one of my attendings today introduced himself as "dr. w, i'm a specialist in emergency medicine." i thought this strange: specialist? then again, is this so strange? i'm pursuing another training to be certified in this "specialty." so seems pretty legitimate. at the core of the specialty of emergency medicine lies the ability to make high-risk decisions extremely rapidly. should this patient go home or be put in the hospital? we face this question perhaps 20 times every day. we don't want to have patients admitted to the hospital unnecessarily, but for many folks, a stay in the hospital can be life-saving.
the high-speed car crashes, the stabbings, and gunshot wounds are easy to take care of: treat the injury and you're done. the most difficult part of emergency medicine is the liminal cases.
on an entirely different note, i have been struggling with documenting in university hospital. at my previous job, i could write down my history and phsyical exam on a single sheet of paper while i was seeing the patient. now, it's all computerized. this is made infinitely easier by this litte contraption:
not that exciting, i know. but when i can record my (sometimes convoluted) conversations with patients in real-time, it makes my job way easier.
tomorrow is my long-run day. ouch.
No comments:
Post a Comment