Me: Hello soandso ward, can I help you?
Person: Open door please
Me: Who are you here to see?
Person: Door open please
Me:
Person: Bed 5
Me: Which patient?
At this point there's usually a name mumbled, often Mohammed (we usually have at least 3 on the ward at any one time) and I let the person in now I'm more convinced they're not an axe murderer.
These conversations get me every time though. If there's a buzzer outside a locked door I think it's a safe assumption the person using it wants to gain access, yet I frequently get that response as though I'm a slighty dense person who's not quite realised what the bell is for.
On other matters, I saw my first lumbar puncture today, I'm not sure how I've managed to get half way through my third year without seeing one (or, come to it, passing a NG* tube on someone other than myself). It was quite good, I was the "catcher" for the CSF. I only managed knocked the needle out of the sterile field so the doctor had to plug it with his thumb between sample bottles, I didn't spill any though so I'm fairly happy! We learn through mistakes and and the doctor was very nice about it.
The poor kid also had a plastic container taped to his head which I realised protected his scalp cannula. Not seen one of those before, cool if a little odd looking.
* I noticed when reading the page about NG tubes that it suggests that injecting air down the tube and listening for air entry into the stomach as being reccomeneded practice for confirming the position of an NG tube. I just wanted to say that that is not the case and is not something we do in practice any longer. The article mentions aspirating and testing with pH paper, this is the reccomended practice. Just thought I'd bore you with that, I've got lots more info about testing NG tube placement if anyone happened to be interested! ;p
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