LIFE

Whew.....it has been a little crazy lately. Working nights, even though it has only been a few lately, is kicking my butt. It is such an adjustment. I feel so bad for always thinking my sister is just being lazy. (oh by the way Ashley, I use to think you were lazy....but I don't anymore ) It totally messes up my sleep pattern. I am now so sleepy around 8 am, and I realized it is because that is my "bedtime" on the nights I work.

About work.....well It is getting some better. I hesitate to write too much, because I don't know who might read this from work! I will just share a few of the details. It was really hard on me at first. It was quite a different crowd of folks than what I am use to. However after the past few weeks, their personality types make much more sense to me. It definitely takes a strong personality to work in the emergency room. All types of people come in and I mean all types!!! Wow! I think I have been living in my own little naive bubble all of my life. I had no idea how many people have serious mental problems. I say that not in a joking way, but in a serious sad way. The need for Christ in so many people's lives is so evident. My hope is that I can be a "light of hope" when I encounter these people! My hope is that my heart doesn't become hard to this walk of life! My hope is that I never become a person that believes I am beyond having the same struggles so many of the people I have witnessed in the past month. I am grateful that life hasn't always been easy for me, because now I feel I have so much empathy for so many of these people. My heart aches when I see a patient that feels they just can't take it anymore! Individuals who think they might be above others drive me insane, and that is probably my biggest struggle while at work.

My sister is getting quite a kick of my mishaps while at work. She finds the stupid things I say quite funny and said I should blog about them. I think she just wants to have a good laugh at my expense. I may share a few things from time to time......remember I am still pretty "green" to this whole medical world. Yes, I know a little from school, but I am not deep into my studies yet. All I can do at ths point is learn from my mistakes and laugh about it at this point.

For instance.........the other night a seriously ill patient came in. It was the first time I had been at work during this type of situation. I was instructed to call a person who I had never heard of and request what I thought she said was a bed. I was nervous and could barely hear all of the commands that were coming from he patient's room. So, I figured out who this person was that I was suppose to call and requested a bed.....which I thought was pretty strange. If the person was dying, why would they need a bed for him? She figured out that they were probably saying vent and not bed.....I felt like the biggest dork!!

A few nights ago we had several admissions. Like I said, I know a lot of the terminology, but I still come across lots of words that I am still figuring out. Also, the doctor's hand writing doesn't help matters. So, I call this time for a bed for an admission. The diagnosis was N/V/D....easy right? I proceed to tell the supervisor the patient has Nivid. I just thought Nivid was another new term that I haven't heard of before. But then.... He said Nivid....I have never heard of that! Then he proceeded to tell me it was nausea, vomiting, diarrhea! I promise the writing was bad and it looked like I's and not /! I just have to laugh at myself!