Hello, everyone! ixchel has been a trooper, juggling many things on her plate, so I have relieved her for this coming week. Here are some of the things I've humbly learned throughout this week:
1. That confused LOL who presses the call light constantly, and presses it several times while you're in the room with her, is charming for the first 5 minutes you meet her. Every time the call light goes off after that makes you want to run in the opposite direction, as fast as you can. Now, I understand what people mean when they say they hear a call light going off during the night. I've been hearing call lights ever since I got home.
2. I'm almost as giddy as my patient when his Foley and wound V.A.C. are removed after weeks of being hospitalized.
3. I emptied my first colostomy bag and was able to teach my fellow cohorts how to do it as well. I've never felt so happy to see a BM (On a side note, am I the only one who notices that my BMs smell like my pt's later on in the day?).
4. A positive Kernig's and Brudzinski's sign are indicative of meningeal irritation and that's not good.
5. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a gram negative bacteria that is multidrug resistant. Also, not good.
6. Just plastering a smile on your face throughout the shift can really brighten people's days. Although internally, I might not be feeling it, I don't let it show because, come on, the people in the hospital need a LOT more cheering up than I do.
7. Don't inject air into Dilaudid because it will blow the end off the vial. Thankfully, I did not do this, and my instructor told me not to before I even started drawing it up. I also got to flush a central port.
8. My sarcasm and dark/dry humor is not wasted on my clinical mates.
9. There are doctors who don't see some tasks as "beneath them". Garbed in isolation dress, I poked my head out to have a fellow mate grab me some iced water. Seeing my searching gaze, a passing doctor - who was easy on the eyes - asked me what I needed and then brought me some water for my patient.
10. I've been having trouble with frequent urination, including waking up in the middle of the night, even though my bladder isn't that full. It's been irritating, and I'm wondering if I should go see my doctor sometime. I haven't been too concerned, but since it's been persisting for a month now, I do wonder... I've ran through, in my head, the possibilities of diabetes, cancer, and hyperthyroidism with my current symptoms.
