The little things I dislike about my job.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Hi everybody!

Well, we’re moved into our new place, finally have our internet back, and I have a few minutes to spare before I hit the sack after coming off night duty (4 more nights of 8pm-8am shifts left, oh joy).

This is not so much a rant, as a little grumble.

Things I find frustrating about working as a junior doctor:

  1. When you, a nurse of 20 years experience, cannot get blood from a patient because their veins are awful, why do you bleep me, a doctor of exactly 1 week’s experience? If you can’t get any, I sure as hell won’t be able to. Look, call me and I’ll give it a go, but perhaps I should be the one who tries first, and if I can’t get it, you can try.

  2. Ditto putting in Cannulas.

  3. Ditto Catheterisations.

  4. It is incredibly annoying to be bleeped at 4am to prescribe drugs WHICH NURSING STAFF HAS ALREADY ADMINISTERED WITHOUT A SIGNATURE. If you’ve already given it to the patient, you can wait 2 more hours for my signature. The pharmacists don’t start stalking the halls looking for prescribing errors until 9am anyway. By all means, wake me up to prescribe something BEFORE you give it to a patient, not afterwards.

  5. To the Blood Transfusion Service, who want my head on a platter: When a patient is due for surgery at 9am, I’ll order the blood at 7:30am, per your instructions to give at least an hour’s notice. If the surgery is then cancelled at 9:30am (when I’ve gone home at 8am) and no-one cancels the blood, so it is wasted, IT IS NOT MY PROBLEM- talk to the doctor responsible for the patient DURING THE DAY. Yes, my name was on the blood request form, but when I left the hospital, the surgery was still going ahead and that blood was needed.

  6. I understand that I’m on the cardiac arrest team, but is the housebrick sized walkie-talkie, that bleeps and emits incredibly loud static when it comes within 15 feet of anything electrical and seems to run out of batteries every 20 minutes,* really* necessary? Surely the bleep on my waistband, the voiceover on the intercom and the buzzers and flashing lights are enough to let me know that there has been an arrest?

  7. To the overzealous prison guard: A patient has a right to privacy- I don’t care if the last prisoner you looked after climbed through the air ducts onto the roof, you don’t need to handcuff this guy to the toilet and leave the bathroom door open. I doubt the guy who tried to escape was 5 days post-op a 17 hour surgery, and this patient isn’t climbing anywhere.

  8. To the overcautious doctor in Accident and Emergency: A 15 year old boy with a 2-inch laceration on his chest from falling off his bike does NOT need to be admitted overnight to the cardiothoracic surgical ward for observation. We observed him crying for his mum, taking a sleeping tablet and sleeping like the proverbial infant.

  9. In my book, something advertising itself as a 24-hour cafeteria should consist of more than a tray of sanwiches, some cold soup and a microwave after 8pm. Suddenly the reason why the phone numbers for 3 Chinese takeaways are in the ward phonebook under “Important Numbers” becomes clear.

That is all. Thank you for listening.

2

I can understand your frustration, but I’m gonna’ take exception to number 7. Having worked in a prison and been assigned to prisoner transport, I can absolutely assure you that there is no such thing as being too careful. Even a prisoner who thinks he may be close to death is a flight risk, as they often rationalize that they have nothing to lose.
Of course there’s also the possibility of suicide, which would be the responsibility of the guard if he/she were negligent.
Good luck w/ your career, you’ve obviously worked long and hard to get where you’re at. I’m sure there will be many more frustrations in your future, but I suspect they will pale in light of the rewards.

3

A.R. Cane- I understand that- but the prisoner has a right to privacy- which means the door stays closed and the handcuffs stay off. They’re supposed to station someone outside the door and do verbal checks he’s still in there every 30 seconds, and that’s more than enough for someone in his condiditon.

Trust me, someone 5 days after having their oesophagus removed is not a flight risk. This guy needs help to get out of bed, he’s on patient-controlled IV morphine for pain and he can’t swallow- he ain’t climbing through any ventilation ducts, and he sure as hell can’t outrun anyone.