Today was not my first Code Blue, but my first real assist. I've been in a couple Code Blue's and Rapid Responses & actually took the blood sugar for one. Today the man came in with his AICD defibrillating about 3 times every minute. Crazy. I had never seen someone's pacemaker/defibrillator kick in before. He was in v tach. He coded and we began CPR. Although I almost got to do chest compressions, and that's what I was really hoping for, I was happy to give breaths through the bag valve mask (ambu bag). After intubation and beginning amiodarone, he was stable.
I got to go around with the paramedic for a little while too and do IVs and lab draws. Got all of them on my first try. I love feeling competent.
I love the ER!
9 comments:
Why can't we all be as fly as Chels?! I'm proud of your competent work!
I'm glad SOMEONE loves the ER because I've been on the "other side of the desk" so to speak, and I HATE it! I'd rather clean up dog poop, be sea sick, have a horrible sunburn, walk on tacks, you get the idea, than be in the ER, either for myself or for anyone I know! But, have fun. :-)
thanks marci!!! cristi, i can totally see the other side and i can imagine i wouldn't be too fond of it after a while. i am always amazed to see how people take advantage of the system day in and day out. today we saw multiple cases where women were basically coming in just for pregnancy tests. my nurse was frustrated because these are the people who don't end up paying for their visit later. we saw people that were so anxious to get in & talk to the doctor, but then too impatient to wait for the paperwork once they were just going to be discharged (ha ha - i laugh because the ER is the fastest I've ever seen discharge paperwork done). i can definitely see a lot of ways the ER could be totally and completely disliked.
And all we talked about on the phone was your power being out at home??? Chels..this is way more exciting. Good job.
I didn't understand half of the terms in there Chels, which means that you're officially a nurse!
Well, I'll just tell you one little part of only one of my ER episodes, and you'll get why. I came in about midnight with excruciating pain, one week after having a laparoscopy. After blood tests and examinations, they said, "Nothing's wrong with you. Go home." I literally crawled very slowly out on my hands and knees because the pain was so intense that I could not walk (as the doc propped his feet up on the desk and proceeded to resume reading the newspaper). The next morning I was admitted to the hospital where they discovered I had a perforated colon that resulted in an abscess the size of a grapefruit. I went home 3 weeks later with a double colostomy and a distrust of the ER. :-( Nope, I just can't like that place.
sorry mom i was scared being home alone with no power!!! shelley thanks! i'm glad i can finally sound smart :D ha ha. cristi - yeah you are right, if that were me, i would not like the er one bit. i am curious about what procedure they did to find the abscess that they didn't do in the ER?? was there something less invasive than a colonoscopy?
It's actually a long and twisted story, with my doc having left town, and his partner being in legal trouble and about to lose his license (we had no idea, of course), so his partner didn't want to get involved. He admitted me to the hospital and ordered morphine and did nothing else (besides poke his head around the curtain and say, "How ya doin'?", so I laid there for 3 1/2 days with an ever expanding belly of pain until my doc came back in town and ordered an ultrasound, where they saw bubbles. Then a surgeon took over and ordered a CT scan, then a long 10 day wait for the abscess to encapsulate and another CT scan to make sure that it had so they could operate without killing me. It really should have, but apparently it wasn't my time yet, thankfully!
Wow Cristi. That's a crazy story. Glad you were able to figure out the problem and glad you're ok now.
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