So far

I'm always a bit reluctant to say something is great or exciting or that I enjoy it because then sooner or later something sour will happen. Hee hee.

Anyhow I thought I'd just say it but I am enjoying my current job. Since I am the covering intern in the afternoon; all I do is finish up things for the morning intern and review patients when needed e.g. for pain, unstable blood sugars, nausea and vomiting, new direct admissions and taking blood and putting in jelco/cannula/IV drip.

I like it because I have no-one telling me what to do (like on the ward rounds in the morning which are hectic anyhow) and I am mostly autonomous and can make my own decisions about what to do with the patient. Baru la rasa macam doctor instead of a clerk. Managing and solving problems and in a slow and deliberate manner too. Can think clearly and do proper examination.

Another thing is no more getting told off all the time because I don't make referrals anymore or scribe on ward rounds. I'm sure this will change once I do mornings again.

The funny thing about the surgical team is that they don't really know (or want) to manage medical problems (non-operative). Surgical patients are patients with conditions that need to be operated on. But on the ward the patients might have coincidental medical problems (things that are not managed by operations) like high blood pressure, asthma/COPD. Yang kelakarnya..nak kene panggil medical registrar (physician) to manage these problems. Macam tak boleh manage sendiri aje.

Like yesterday there was a patient with hypertension (BP 180/80) after an operation (left ileal angioplasty). We have to keep it low so that the haematoma (blood clot over the wound) doesn't burst. They had to call a medical registrar to come & manage this. Haiyya berjam-jam la kalau nak tunggu registrar tu nak datang - derang banyak kerja gak. Blood pressure patient naik sampai 200/120! Anyway, Alhamdulillah I was able to manage that patient and by the time I finished my shift, his blood pressure had come down to 155/80. Nasib baik tak tunggu medical registrar tu datang.

The patients up in the wards (compared to ED and my old ward downstairs) are so different! They're so much nicer and more polite. Kagum jap. Tak pernah jumpa setakat ni hee hee. When inserting cannulas, several have apologised to me for having difficult veins when I couldn't get the drip in (terbalik plak..patut aku yang apologise sebab not skillful enough!). Kalau kat ED/AOW dulu, mau kene maki hamun kalau tak dapat masukkan drip on the first go. There are also a few when I'm feeling their hands and arms for veins; who grasp my hand and want to hold it for a while because my hands are warm. Comel je makcik2 tua kat situ.

Maybe because the patients upstairs have been in hospital for a while and are feeling a bit better. That's why they're good natured. Downstairs in ED and acute ward, everyone is acutely sick, lack of sleep and grumpy and rude.

There are too many nurses upstairs to get friendly with anyone. That; I kinda miss. But at least there is another intern on in the afternoon with me so ada la kawan.

This Saturday I'll be working from the morning though...from 7am-9pm. That'll be a bit different. Will report about it then.

Meanwhile; Marlina gave birth to a baby girl last night and Wahyuna is coming to visit from Adelaide tomorrow! Yippeeeee