Night Shift Ramblings
Scene: Weekend night in the ER; we are swamped as usual. It's 3 AM, and the waiting room is still full. I've already been up to triage twice to personally bring back patients with real emergencies. Lesser emergencies will have to wait.I'm at the desk, charting after a code.
TECH: "Say, doc. Can a drunk patient sign out AMA? She doesn't want to wait any longer."
ME: "I dunno. What's she here for?"
TECH: "Being drunk."
ME: "Is there anyone else with her to take her home?"
TECH: "Yeah, but they're all drunk too. Well, one of them is not as drunk as the rest."
ME: "Bingo."
The weirdest part of the shift was that I kept getting calls from the radiologist about critical CT scans of patients that were still in the waiting room. You know it's a bad night when the radiologist is doing your triage for you.
So I go out to the front and look for Mrs. Jones with an intracranial hemorrhage. It's a disaster out there; I don't know how the nurses deal with it. All eyes are on me as I scan the room and yell "Mrs. Jones!"
The other patients seemed to glare at us as I pushed the stretcher down the hall toward the treatment rooms. The fact that she and I were both white while most of them were not made me acutely uncomfortable. Perhaps they thought she was getting special VIP treatment. Perhaps they wished they could trade places with her. If they only knew.
Lesson to patients: yeah, it sucks to have to wait for hours to be seen, but you really don't want to have the sort of problem that requires immediate attention. Trust me.
Labels: ER, nightshifts, patients
posted by scalpel at 12:43 AM
9 Comments:
Who's ordering your CT scans for you if the radiologist is doing triage?
(I agree, it sounds like a bad situation if CT is less backed up than ER.)
A doc on the previous shift must have OK'ed it. Nurses can order all the blood tests and x-rays that their hearts desire, but they have to get our OK for CT scans.
I know a whole unit of ER nurses that would love to work with you. You push carts and call for patients out in the waiting room, and I bet you even make your own coffee during your shift. You, sir, are a prince!
MJ
When some whine-butt is complaining I tell them that whoever is sickest wins and you don't want to be the winner in that race!
Nice sign.
You should get one that says Drive-Thru Open.
Dude, I'm with mother jones.
My last shift was like that. (Sick /sick/ people and nowhere to put them.) *I* was the one trying to sort the sick from the really sick for triage, calling 'em back, etc. The poor triage nurse was x10s worse off -- and I'm the one with no medical training.
Piece of advice from someone who sits up front for twelve hours a day -- do not make eye contact. Look at the floor or the ceiling or whatever. Do not smile. Frown, look as upset as x person with groin pain x2 months is for going before x person who just amputated their leg. Helps if you're a space cadet like I am and can be completely obtuse to the snotty comments that you'll get. :)
My comment may not related to this Night shift ramblings...but its about troubles with sleep who works on night shifts.....I hope it will help everyone who works on those crazy hours....
You may know about it...but it will help those who don't know why they can't sleep.....
Shift work sleep disorder is a circadian rhythm sleep disorder that occurs due to the work schedule that takes place during the normal sleep period. You have to work in night schedules when your body wants to sleep. You have to sleep when your body expects to be awake. Your sleep and wake times are much different than your internal body clock.
This internal clock controls circadian rhythms in your body. Circadian means to occur in a cycle of 24 hours. These circadian rhythms make you alert or feel sleepy at regular time periods every day.
Night Shift...I am also adding 101 ways to get good sleep...
1.Stop the habit of watching the clock, counting the hours and remembering the hours as it leads to lack of sleep.
2.For a restful sleep, put a pillow under the knees to relieve lower back pressure.
3.Some people may not like taking warm bath; they can soak their feet in warm water for fifteen to twenty minutes before going to bed. Apply oil and massage each foot before going to sleep.
4.If feeling of tiredness leads to sleepiness during the evening, try to resist going to bed early than usual time.
Rests of 101 ways are……...
there is no good way to do night shifts. period. keep on truckin' doc.
My move to the night shift will start in a couple of weeks. I don't know what to feel! I'm excited, but I'm also scared. I've written about the advantages and disadvantages of working the night shift. I hope you check it out and leave me some tips on how to survive the big change. Thanks!
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