Terrible Tuesday

Well, terrible is probably skewing a bit on the side of hyperbolic, but I have been under a lot of 'will I have a job or won't I' stress for the past 5 days so any event takes on a certain downbeat cast. So, today just seemed kind of long and dragged out...........so did yesterday really. Lots of patients, little help, and a general feeling of mental fatigue as, being new with little in the way of orientation, everything is more arduous than it should be. Just figuring out how to order file folders entailed 4 separate conversations. And most everything is like that..........me running around trying to find answers to seemingly simple questions and really not having anyone readily available to answer them. Only, I lack the time now to look very hard because I am busy with patients.

Today I encountered a prime example of the double edged sword of autonomy (not to be confused with the sword of Damocles hanging over my head at the moment). I had an elderly patient who could not have weighed more than 80 pounds soaking wet, who was so cold she was wearing 3 lays of clothes under a parka with skiing gloves on (it was 45 today which is cold, but not THAT cold). Suffice to say, she had nary a vein that I could find to draw a lab on. I tried once, called and left a message for assistance and waited. After stalling for 10-15 minutes doing things with some other patients in the clinic, I tried again. 0 for 2. I called again. Another message. I finally decided to just get the blood via a finger stick (which also yielded so little blood I had to milk her finger to get enough to fill the cuvette..........approximately one good drop) and run the test that way, despite the order. I then gave her the medication (which was predicated on the finger stick/lab draw and I heard back from the charge 15 minutes AFTER she left the clinic.........or about 45 minutes from my first call). I was frustrated needless to say (although Tia astutely pointed out that at least I had enough experience and the wherewithal to just make a determination to go another way and get the same result, rather than just sitting on my hands for an hour while the patient waited for something to happen), but that is part of the job. I don't really need a second person all the time, though that would be great, but I do need a second person available most of the time, just in case. Mostly it has worked out well, today it just did not.

Still, way better than doing triage. 2 more days to go until the 5 days my job is posted runs out. So far, no bites (or none that I have heard of). I really need a drink!