people have been asking what working in the ER is actually like. is it actually as crazy, fast-paced as it is on TV? is there as much terror and drama? are doctors and nurses frantically making out in corners on top of gurneys?
well, no. and yes. some days as soon as you resuscitate one patient, there's another coming in from a motor vehicle accident (MVA) with his arm hanging by a thread or head cut wide open and spurting blood, while 3 more are in arrhythmias and another is vomiting and still another is begging for pain meds and a psych patient in the hallway is bellowing "YES, YES, YES" at the top of her lungs. other days, there are only a few patients and they all have manageable, quiet ailments like pneumonia or headaches and there's nothing too heroic going on. there is a lot of death. at least once a day someone arrives DOA or resuscitation fails. so there are lots of disoriented family members wandering around in a grief haze. all the staff-docs, nurses, techs, respiratory therapists are collected and relaxed pretty much always. they are proficient at getting what they need, and are casually quick to respond, if that makes sense. few things alarm them, but they are always on their toes and ready with the right thing to do/say. it's very methodical. even the crisis encounters are routine to them. but almost daily there's something unusual enough for the staff to discuss it amongst themselves. if bizarre enough, it might be a teaching moment for everyone to check out, or if wacky enough, might be a (respectful, mostly) moment of awe or eye-rolling. sometimes laughter. i think they laugh their way sane throughout the day. when you see such gore and pain and work 12 hour days often without meals or bathroom breaks, it helps to keep a sense of humor. and i like this laid-back, slightly irreverant environment. which is why, the other day, i actually used the phrase "many colors of the snot rainbow" to a patient when she was describing her green/yellow/brown sputum she's coughing up. and why today when we were stitching up a nasty cut on a patient's leg, i asked, "so while we're down here, do you want us to tack on a tail or do you want a tatoo or anything?" in both cases, the patients and family members laughed. (perhaps while planning their lawsuit).
i think most of the time the patients appreciate the relaxed atmosphere. but i'm guessing it can appear a little insensitive and detached at times, too. like today, when we were working on that guy w/ the leg wound, the doc i was with actually said OUT LOUD, "man, look at all that blood just ooze out." i looked sideways at the patient and kind of rolled my eyes- and he smiled. but i'm not so sure i'd want to be on the other end of the needle hearing that. :)
as far as catching people making out on the hospital gurneys (called "carts" if you're in the know)- the demented lady yelling "YES, YES, YES" was the closest thing to action i've seen/heard since i've been there. these doctors are all pretty young and fit-ish, but George Clooney they are not. which, really, if you think about it, is better in the end. i don't want to go to my local ER in my moment of genital warts crisis or explosive diarrhea episode and be greeted by a super hot doctor at the end of my bed, thank you very much. .
i just had a little moment of clarity about the health care system. it's a lot like dealing with an auto shop. most of us know as little about our bodies as we do about our vehicles and don't really know how to anticipate the needs or understand what it takes to maintain them. we just want them fixed and fixed now and fixed cheap. just now i received the diagnosis on my aging, ill station wagon and noticed how bitter and untrusting toward my friendly neighborhood mechanic i became when he gave me the super high estimate. and i hear that from patients in the hospitals all the time. "do they REALLY need to run that test? is that the CHEAPEST drug they can prescribe? what are THEY taking off the top for this?" and you hear in the news all the time that hospitals are going out of business because they can't get out of the red, and i see how many insane hours health practitioners work and how hard they work for the money they make, so i understand it from the health care side of things. but i also understand it from the patient side- it's something like $15 for a box of kleenex in the hospital if you ever see an itemized bill. good lawd. so....i know my poor mechanic was thinking "this is what her car needs to keep her safe. it's not my fault we have to pay our employees and keep the lights on and still try to get ahead enough to avoid bankruptcy." but i still kind of want to burn his house down. well, mansion, i'm sure. probably has a swimming pool. and a flat screen TV.
bloody wanker.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
"so while we're down here, do you want us to tack on a tail or do you want a tatoo or anything?" YOu really said this?? LOL I'm driving two and a half hours to come see YOU the next time I have to go the ER, I mean really, I'd probably have to wait that long at the hospital down the street anyway.
Post a Comment