Tuesday, October 5, 2010

What a Day it Has Been

So today I worked my first day as an attending.... all alone in the E.D.  I kind of suspected it would be difficult.  Mostly, I was just missing the camaraderie;  working with the attendings and junior residents.  Having someone to bounce ideas off of.  Some to fall back on when I am uncertain about what to do next.

Primum non nocere - first, do no harm.  That became my mantra today as I negotiated my way through what I felt was a sea of patients.  Not many by some of my colleagues' standards, but it certainly seemed like a lot to me.

I had one sign-out from the prior ED Doc at the beginning of my shift that turned out to be a broken hand in a teenager who fell rollerskating.  I splinted that one, and that's how my day began.

Some of my other patients:
 - lost control of car while rubbing eye.  Concussion and lots of bruising.  My first trauma.
 - fell and got a "blood blister" under fingernail.  Subungal hematoma which I got to drain while burning a hole in the fingernail.  Cool stuff
 - abdominal wall abscess.  Got to show my new nurses how we do VessiLoops in the E.D.  Not to mention draining an abscess.  Very satisfying as always
 - wound check.  Nothing exciting, just a follow-up but important nonetheless
 - rubbed eye so hard they bruised their eyelid.  Did a complete work-up to check for bleeding problems. Nada.  Will have to try to figure that one out with their primary doc
 - slipped on stairs and has a bruised coccyx.  Yes, you can bruise it.  Ouch.
 - fell asleep at wheel and crashed car.  Mild head bonk.  Not a trauma.
 - didn't take medications and now fluid overloaded.  Take the fluid off and send to primary's office where they already had an appointment today
 - fell on tree roots and cut head.  Staples and a turban head wrap.
 - ran over "tree part" that fell off logging truck and now having back spasms.  A little muscle relaxer and some time off work should have you better in no time.
 - I only stopped smoking because now I can't breath.  Double pneumonia will do that to you.  So stop smoking.  And, here's your antibiotics.

Just a flavoring of the patients I saw today.  Back to work tomorrow.  At least I think I will feel somewhat more on top of things.  Got to get my rhythm going and get with the "flow" of the department.  It'll happen... 

3 comments:

Jeanie said...

Yesterday my husband and I were playfully arguing about something as we were coming back indoors after buying some glue for his train set models.
I wouldn't stop prattling and he called to me 'Get in!' as he held the door open. I did a little dance, come shuffle, then saluted my masterful husband as I proceeded to step up into the hallway. I tripped and fell my length, with my hands by my side. It all happened in slow motion as I fell and hit my knees first. Then my forehead clunked on his shoe. My spectacles slid down over my mouth and I lay there as we both giggled hilariously. By jings it hurt at first but what a belly laugh we had for a while afterwards. Daft bat that I am! lol
If I had hurt myself really, I wondered if I would have been able to describe how it happened to you Veronica if I came into your ED. (Wife arrives with husbands shoe stuck to her head!)hehehe!
I hope your day goes well tomorrow. You need a bit of humour in your line of work.
The rhythm of life will find you by the way....
Take care and keep smiling!
Jeanie xx

betty said...

congrats on making it through your first day as an attending!! WTG Veronica!! great attitude knowing that you will eventually get the rhythm and flow of it and it will be a piece of cake before you know it!! interesting array of cases too; I loved the one about the double pneumonia. Liked Jeanie's comment too; can add my own, husband was getting table from the rafters and table slipped, hitting him in the eye (no eye damage but wow what a bruise). of course he is having fun saying I did it to him, LOL

enjoy your work!! I know there will be those tough days but I know you are finally there where you have trained for so many hard years!

betty

ADB said...

Certainly a mixed bag of cases for you to look at. The first few weeks of any new jobs are the most challenging - you'll do fine :-)

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