Working in the PACU, we think we have things under control. But in life, and medicine, you never know what will bubble to the surface.
Read MoreRecovery in 73 Minutes
in Medicine
Medicine
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Special Treatment
in Medicine
Sometimes patients are overt in their desire for privileged treatment. Sometimes coworkers want to convey a desire for exceptional care for certain people. But in many circumstances the lines are a little blurry.
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Self Maintenance: by Eric and Caleb
in Medicine
...[H]ow effective can we be if we don’t take care of ourselves? And the worst of it is, I’m cutting a piece of myself every day hoping that sacrificing myself today will somehow make tomorrow better. And every day my patient reminds me that there is no bigger lie.
Read MoreCorrection
in Medicine
Can I learn from my mistakes?
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My First: Sometimes It's Out Of Our Hands
in Medicine
I looked down at my admission slip and saw written "35-year-old male, high potassium, and low platelets.” Humm...okay. I already began to plan out in my mind all my interventions even before calling to get report. I'll never forget that report...even to this day, it seems like I can so clearly hear the sadness in the ER nurse's voice. The first words out of her mouth were "Oh man, this is a sad one.”
Read MoreMy First Smile: How I Choose to Comfort Amidst the Chaos
in Medicine
We learned slowly that the only power we had to comfort people in pain as they entered a complex system of care was the softest power at all: tenderness. There were no promises we could make, and people often lied to us to protect themselves. So we smiled.
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Our Bodies Are Amazing: Witnessing the Power of Medicine for the First Time
in Medicine
They gave her a heart shaped pillow that has the anatomy of the blood vessels and a heart on it. The surgeons signed the pillow with a sharpie and drew on the arteries that had been grafted. Her job is to hug this pillow when she moves, or when she coughs or sneezes. She wraps the pillow, we have the nurse, the PT, a respiratory therapist, another nurse and me, the newbie aide to use a slide board to move her to the chair. The PT reminds me to watch all the lines and go slow. I was on high alert and we slide her over.
Read More"Keeping Away Death" by Julian Hoke Harris. Sculpture on Fulton County Building near Grady Memorial Hospital
Wrestling With Death
in Medicine
I went from feeling like the guardian angel, to feeling like the grim-reaper himself. I knew we were doing everything right. I knew we followed the protocols correctly. I knew we worked with good crews and good hospitals. What I didn't know, were the statistics.
Read MoreService and Boundaries-Caleb
in Medicine
I work in a rural hospital that is not a trauma center. Sure, traumas come in, but it is our job to stabilize patients and send them to a facility with trauma teams and surgeons. We call the cavalry, which is usually a helicopter, while we stabilize.
Read MoreIt's Not Okay To Not Be Okay
in Medicine
Nobody wants to appear weak, or be looked down on for not being a salty ol' pro who just muscles their way through the day. You have to be a machine, and not a human being with emotions and a gag reflex
Read MoreWhen They Are Us
I was sitting in the driver’s seat of my own ambulance when this story started to flood social media.
Not that long ago, we would have heard about this story later that night – maybe the next day – and would’ve imagined how horrible it had been......We don’t get to imagine things anymore.
Read MoreRunning A Little Late
in Medicine
Then the pager goes off. Highland. OR 6. I kegel, pound the rest of the latte, and start the car. OR 6 is where the big stuff happens – the stuff you see on the news. Many very bad traumas go in and few come out.
Read MoreSilent Scream
This poem, inspired by a patient, grew and evolved through constraint.
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"Nothing like waking up with a garden hose shoved down your windpipe" Click for source
Let's Get Extubated!
Going from a medicine induced coma to the Full Monty of awake, afraid, and painful of being intubated can induce the kind of panic usually reserved for pilots who run out of fuel or skydivers who's parachute doesn't open. The shock for most is nothing short of horrifying. But don't worry, it gets better.
Read MoreGive up, Or Don't
The short story is, the very best thing for a heart patient to do is walk, and it is often the one thing they don't want to do. Many do well, but my patient today did not. It inspired me to share this lesson with you now before life puts you in a situation where your life depends on it.
Read MoreCode Blue: What Do You Want To Do?
in Medicine
There is no need to fear the end if you start with the end in mind. Don’t allow what is guaranteed for all to surprise you. Instead, seek to be surprised by how wonderful life is when you have strong and healthy relationships.
Read MoreA Note To New-Grad RN's
in Medicine
What nursing school does not do is teach you how to function successfully in a new work environment as a new hire as a new grad. From day one you will see things happen that don't make sense to you in your NCLEX programed mind.
Read MoreA Call For Mercy
in Medicine
In healthcare, we may think that our position gives us some kind of moral authority over those who are struggling through life. My privilege and education give me capacity to care for and be compassionate to my patient and community; not to pass judgment or condemnation. The hell that people bring into their own life will not be transformed by adding gasoline to the fire of a life already turning to ash.
Read MoreThe Blunt Side Always Stings
in Medicine
After the tones, I don't feel human. A kind of switch is flipped. I have to go out on a call and perform at a higher level then anything else in my life. I have to see things that would bring me to tears any other time and pretend that it doesn't bother me.
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