Whatever's Clever!

For some reason, every week I have to battle within myself to go the Emergency Department that I've been interning at for the last month. I'm not sure if it's because this is a hospital I do not personally enjoy, or if it's that same fear of getting yelled at, ignored, or forgotten about week after week.

I walk into the ER today and for a second I believe that the nurse in admitting recognizes me. She does not, but she does ask "what's your name again?" I then get handed off like a nuisance to a Technician who surprisingly recognizes me. Of course, this is a male Tech and believe it or not, guys are always friendlier to me than woman are. Imagine that....!

So he and I gallivant around the department--it is unusually busy, and the charge nurse--a woman who is about ten feet tall, (no lie) is calling out orders to everyone else. She is stressed though at this point, and as a side note, I'm not sure what a charge nurse does besides yell at people and sit at a desk.

Naturally, she hates me. Though she does not seem to remember me, I well remember her. I saw and spoke to her at my very first clinical back in September, and I spoke to her a few weeks ago, while she looked at me, well to be honest, like I was retarded. So, on my part, I've tried to befriend this giantess...but she wants no part in it.

She wound up telling me to stay on the opposite side of the desk of her so that I "don't get in the way". However, where she placed me only proved to be more a hassle for any of the bustling staff, so I silently glowered yet managed to keep a cheery face on all the while. Ahh, my secret talent.

So, nothing much in the ER took place today that makes for an exciting read. I took some blood pressures, watched a drunken young man sleep who looked like an angel, yet upon waking was most assuredly not one. I watched two urinalysis procedures completed, many blood draws/IV starts, EKG's and helped transport another patient to another part of the hospital. Overall, not exciting.

However, this was my last time (or so I hope) at this hospital. Next Wednesday, I will be at another one--the one that I absolutely loved last semester (so you know I'm setting myself up for failure with these big hopes!! Ha! )

Here is what I learned from hospital one:

• The staff is not fans of students. Even though they once were students themselves, they'd rather that you just go away
• All the patients I have thus far encountered are really nice to me. I've gotten hugs and winks from complete strangers.
• I still love the ER but am not a fan of the way I am treated
• I still want to do this as a career

Til next week, the start of a brand new hospital adventure!!! Hopefully there will be fewer mishaps and more friendly staff moments.

Four am

Though today does not constitute an "internship" day, I did do a bit of work at a hospital today, and thus, I will record my adventures...

As part of my IV class, I have to have two documented IV starts in a clinical setting. Wanting to get it over with, I scheduled my clinical time a week after class let out.

Instinctively I knew that I'd be good at starting IV's (not to toot my own horn, but I am pretty good at it :) ) so the concept of taking a 20 gage catheter and sticking it into someone’s vein is about as natural to me as it may be for you to make a cup of coffee, or ride a bicycle. Little bit of practice makes perfect...

I had to be in the day surgery ward of the hospital today, and unfortunately, surgeries are always scheduled early, so that meant that I had to arise at four am. Anyone who knows me knows that I love my sleep. But, I psyched myself up for an exciting adventure of poking people with sharp needles, and in the end, four am wasn't too impossibly hard for me to get up and going, especially when I realized that I'd rather be doing this than sitting around wondering what I was going to do with my life. It's nice to feel like you have a purpose.

After a nice hour long drive in the pitch black, a car running a red light and almost T-boning me, and observing two Police officers surround a suspicious looking man outside of a Payday cash advance store, I was well on my way to an interesting morning.

I had to walk a bit to the day surgery ward, and it was freezing. I found the place with relative ease, did the whole "I'm Sarah, I'm a student" business and was ushered back into the hospital setting that honestly looked like a nursing home. I was met by a Technician who through false kindness and gritted teeth told the receptionist (and in a round about way, me) to go away and wait in the waiting room until she was good and ready for her to retrieve me.

And so I sat. And sat. In the waiting room with the other OR patients checking in. It was about half and hour later when the same Tech (who secretly hated me earlier) announced loudly (and a bit too cheerily) "Okay Miss EMT student!!! Come on back!!!"

Well, we exchanged names, and then she told me to sit at a table and gave me a catheter to "play with". Why she thought I needed a catheter to play with is beyond me, but I sat at the table like a child and kept myself busy pretending to be perfectly contented to look at the lovely pink 20 gage needle.

I saw a nurse point to me and in whispered tones ask "Who is that? What's her name?" (Sigh. Why can't people approach me? Do I look like an ax murderer?) To which my Tech replied "Cindy". Again, if you know me, you know that I do not often mumble my words, especially when introducing myself since I seem to do it on a daily basis, and I know my own name fairly well. And how in the world she got my name so wrong is beyond me.... but, I corrected her, and she apologized, patted me on the back and called me "Hon". I don't much like being called "Hon" but there is nothing you can do about such situations.

Finally, the moment came for me to start my first real IV on a patient actually needing one.

She and her husband were perhaps the nicest people one could ever hope for when picking a patient. She had absolutely no problem with me sticking her, even when she asked how many patients I've done before and I had to tell her that she was my very first real life patient. And so, she offered me her right hand and before me lay beautiful veins. (I'm fully aware that at this moment I sound like a vampire, but good veins are a must for successful needle pokes). I usually prefer the antecubital space (the depression in front of the elbow) but this is where I was expected (and told) to start the IV.

Grabbing my needle and setting everything up, I professionally explained everything that I was doing to put her, and perhaps myself at ease. I stuck the needle in, and immediately got "the flash" (the bit of blood that lets you know that you are successfully in the vein). I advanced the catheter in just a bit more, and placed it, successfully. I then did a blood draw and finally, hooked her up to the IV to give her the fluids she would need. She told me she never even felt the needle go in. Thank God....

One down, one more to go.

My next patient was a pleasant woman who informed me that before she became a stay at home Mom, she was a bio-chemist. I'm always astounded to be in the presence of these simply brilliant people, and more so am humbled that they trust me to poke and prod them.

So, I proceeded to prep this nice lady and once more started a successful IV. She asked if I used a local anesthetic because she "honestly did not feel a thing". Yay! So perhaps I've found my knack... :)

I wound up leaving the OR about 7:30am, and sadly, no one bid me goodbye. But that's par for being an EMS student....no one really cares about your coming or going, just as long as you don't mess anything up.

God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy

Today started off a lot better than last week. Only one staff member recognized me so I had to feel awkward again and re-do introductions. One Tech even said "I didn't know anyone was coming in for a clinical today". Nice to know that no one is aware of my Internship.

So, the Paramedics brought in a man having a heart attack (aka Myocardial Infarction). At the urging of the ER staff, I went to the Cath Lab. Now, for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, a Cath Lab simply is a "department in the hospital that specializes in cardiac cathertization which is a procedure to examine blood flow to the heart and test how well the heart is pumping" (americanheart.org)

There we have this immensely sterile room, and I'm given a cap and face mask and told to "stand by that chair over there" and watch. Mercifully, a nurse was kind enough to explain the procedure. Essentially, the Doctor and Nurse stuck a catheter into the patient's femoral artery which would lead into the heart. I watched on the screen as they explained the man was having a heart attack, and they showed me his blocked arteries. Quite simply (and amazingly) they unclogged the arteries and placed a stent to prevent this event from happening again. Words cannot express how cool this was to watch a man's beating heart on a screen and seeing a clogged artery repaired and the pain of a heart attack alleviated.

The ER was busy today, and I did something I never, ever (repeat ever) imagined doing.

*Hint, the following portion is not for sensitive readers*

The technician that I was shadowing today asked me to help her place a urinary catheter. It sounds harmless. Until you understand the procedure. You take this long catheter and place it into (in this case) a man's urinary tract through the penis.

Now, I was fine watching this procedure--and secretly I was praying that I would not have to assist because a) I really don't want to be placing my hands on a man down there and b) I know there's a first time for everything, but I was content to never even assist. So imagine the sinking of my heart when I was asked to hold this man's...erm...body part open so that the catheter could be inserted.

It not only took longer than expected, it was awkward for me, and the patient. I wanted to blush, puke, and run away simultaneously. Instead, I tried not to breath in too deeply, and did my job while thinking to myself that this was something not in my plans for....my life.

But, it's over and done with. Thank God. Other than those two events for the day, I assisted in vitals, removing an IV and assisting with patients who had gotten themselves into some pretty scary accidents.

Never-the-less, this is what I love to do. I'm grateful that this week I was able to have more hands on work (perhaps a bit too much hands on if you get my gist, haha) and I think this day is one that can go in the books as some "EMT experience" that will look good on a resume.

Day One

Day one was about as uneventful as one can hope for. A few broken bones, a couple suicide attempts--the normal stuff that brings one into an Emergency Department. I can't say that I got extraordinarily excited over any of the events, but it certainly was enjoyable watching the employees at work, drawing blood, doing vitals, patient interaction etc.

The first day of anything is always super awkward because a) no one knows who you are and b) you get forgotten about/ignored because no one knows what to say to you.

My day primarily consisted of people staring (literally, staring) at my name badge which identifies me as a student. Unfortunately, the clip for my name badge is right at my pelvic region, so it creates shall we say....an awkward feeling as people are staring at it, trying to figure out who the girl is in the white button up top and blue cargo pants.

After the moments of people staring at me, I was often mentioned as "the EMT Student" of which I am no longer...but how do you tell people without sounding uppity that you are an "Intern"? I did the class, I did registry. I should get some credit, right? (Even still, I don't know exactly what I should be doing as an Intern...

I got ignored by the staff for the most part of the day, something which I have discovered is normal. Again, people don't know who I am, or what I am doing in their department, and so human nature tends to just pretend that the person they do not know does not exist.

I also was told that because of the economy it is rather hopeless for me to find a job in this field without some hardcore experience (Hello!! What is the point of me doing this internship?!?) But I digress...maybe next week, when I'm back, interacting with the same staff members there will be some recognition of who I am. But maybe not.

:)

Prelude

"No one knows what he can do until he tries"

Tomorrow begins the start of an adventure I thought would never occur. I have often said that whatever I am adamant about not doing one day, it turns into something I actually do (and love) the next.

I've loved anything emergency and medical related since I was a child. From my early years I pretended I was a doctor, saving lives left and right. Only I had the knowledge and expertise to do so. But the dreams of a child are often left in the past and forgotten.

As I grew up, I found that I had no idea what I wanted to do career wise. Sure, being a doctor sounded grand, but I lacked in math and science and so, I gave up that dream. I graduated high school, went to a two year Bible college, and left still not knowing what to study. I went to a Community College and studied business, and it was okay, nothing spectacular, and I couldn't help but feel that I was wasting my time studying things that I really couldn't care less about.

Spring semester of 2009, I was stuck in a college Biology class that I didn't get, and reached a new point of frustration. I hated studying business, I hated being 22 and stuck at Community College, and I hated having no direction.

That is, until friends, family, and my boss all told me on separate occasions that I was studying the wrong thing, and that I need to study something that I love.

And so one day, scanning the school catalog, my eyes fell upon Emergency Medical Services. With thorough research and much fear, I enrolled into the program, and quite simply, I fell in love. Everything about the program I adored, even the frustrating parts when I couldn't put the regulator on the tank of oxygen correctly, or couldn't figure out the difference between a pneumothorax and hemopneumothorax....I was indeed in love.

My first time in an Emergency Department, I knew I had found my niche. I walked in, got acclimated, and felt that I was home. The frustration, the confusion, the fear all vanished. Everything clicked, and I was happy. Some of the patients I assisted will stay in my mind forever--the little boy with the broken arm, the man having the heart attack, the woman with the pulmonary embolism...they all taught me the valuble skills that cannot be learned about in a classroom.

I got my EMT certification officially in January of 2010.

I'm now enrolled in an Internship where I spend time in Emergeny Departments, ambulances and who knows what else as an introduction to the medical field without being a "EMT student". Though I'm a rookie, I now have the letters EMT after my name, I have the education, and I have the desire to learn---so whatever this Internship throws at me, I believe (with some hesitancy) that I am ready for this new journey. I know that there will be shortcomings, I'll come across as a dork, and some days will be horrible. That's okay. I didn't go to school thinking that I'd be a life saver. I went because this is my passion. This is where God has called me.