#1672 - On Jumbled Mess

The last three days at work have felt like a Jumbled mess all right.

I usually like to get into a flow of sorts at work.

Patient comes in, gets seen, get the workup started,

move onto the next patient.

But, it's been more like:

Four patients waiting in the rooms when I arrive.

Three are old from the prior shift waiting for studies, and one is new.

See the new one and get things going.  Then another new one gets put in.

Try to see the new one while one of the old ones screams that 

they are ready to leave.  The new one needs nothing done and 

can be discharged.  Now two new ones are put into rooms,

and I get called quickly into a room because one of them is really

sick and needs attention yesterday.

Trying to put in orders on the new sick one, while trying to write discharges

on the old and new one, when another old one is ready to go

and the third old one turns out to be sicker than thought

and now needs more orders and a consult.

Get orders in on the sickest new one, haven't seen the other new one,

but then another new one gets placed into a room,

and, oh yeah, the PA didn't show up and there's

four other patients waiting to be seen in Fast Track.

I send my medical student to go see the "stitches removal"

because that should be easy, right?

While I discharge three, try to admit one, finally see another

and put in orders, the medical student comes back saying

that "something doesn't look right."

Now it's leave my work area and go to look at a wound in Fast Track.

Reassure patient and medical student that everything is ok,

and look at two of the three other patients that are there.

They're ready for discharge, so I grab their charts, remove the stitches

from the original patient, and grab their chart as well.

Stack of charts in hand, I go back to my work area to 

find that the nurses have roomed another two patients to replace the ones

I discharged, plus my sick patient is ready for admission,

and, oh by the way, a STEMI is on the way in and

will be in the ED in 3 - 5.

How many more hours until my shift ends....?

2013 A to Z Challenge Post:

J is for Jeep