My unreasonably good mood continued; too much so, I suspect, as now everyone I work with think I'm on drugs. Really enjoyed utilising the knowledge I gained, that "singe" means monkey in French. It's amazing how much fun I can have simply ejaculating 'Voila! Le singe!'. It does have to be said, however, that this does little to convince your boss that you're working hard.
In fact, I continue to have a shit-eating grin on my face. The reasons are subject to the current embargo, but I feel... electric. As a young 'un, I used to get hyper during thunder-storms. The warning grey-yellow bruising of the sky, the smell of ozone, the feeling of the wind, as it changes carrying first the promise of, and then the reality of rain... it all combines to fire me up in a truly elemental way. I can't really explain it, but I guess it is elemental, more or less. Anyway, that's how I feel.
I need to calm down.
My mood was damped slightly by receiving a missive from a friend, also serving his time in the ED. He, too, is being squashed by time pressures. His boss delivered him a 3 line whip today, about the 'big picture' (read: 'spend less time with patients') He, as I, feels that this makes sense in theory - doing the most, for the most; but it is difficult in reality. Sick patients need re-assessment. We can't just leave them. Can we? He got a rollicking for going back to take an history from a non-English speaker. Told he had spent enough time with that patient. Refer and move on. And there was barely a flicker in response to the explanation, that the treatment had been empiric, until the translator arrived, and even we can't justify not taking an history in the name of targets.
Can we?
Further criticism handed out for going back to talk to a patient's daughter, and explain what was happening. Limits must be placed. Aside from anything else, I think he feels the pain inherent in this, the unspoken criticism, that he is not doing his job properly anymore. I'm not sure either of us know what that is anymore sometimes.
Glad that couldn't happen to me.
And lastly, a rant about private medicine. When you decide to go private, if you don't agree with the care, it will not endear you to your local ED, if you pitch up, demand what you think is the right treatment (because that's what your friend got), complain when we have to repeat your investigations because the ones you had yesterday (privately) are not available to us, and then, after a 4 hour work up, demand that we admit you to the private hospital, so you can 'have a telly in your room'
4 comments:
I appreciate your insights. And amazingly, after I huge block exam today, I am thrilled that someone across the ocean is happy, thrilled to be practicing EM. good luck to you. Believe me when I say that you are in a better place dealing with time issues than the American healthcare system.
Cheers
dave
You sound a bit manic to me, maybe you need some mood stabalisers.
Glad to see you in a good mood though.
Haha- I was thinking the same thing as little medic!
But then again, I'm a fine one to talk!
You are extremely articulate in the way you put your experiences across. In reference to yourself stating you feel like a youn'un - age is only a figure, your only as young or as old as your feel, this is dependant on whether you view the glass as half full or half empty.
A bit of humour and laughter never hurt anyone...well apart from slighly worrying the bosses and others thinking your crazy but whos to say thats not a stupendous trait to possess in the ED or an attempt to potentially keep you sanity intact : )!
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