2 overwhelmed ER doctors, short staffed and no ability to call the on call person because they were already at the hospital working on a ventilator case...we got our asses kicked from 6 pm to about 1am. we booked 8 patients (5 to ICU with extensive workups) and 3 to INP (less extensive workups but most likely to transfer to surgery/neuro depts).
2 deaths, 2 client walk outs and more than 2 hour wait for patients to be seen by the doctors. doesn't really sound like much unless you are in the midst of it...onco patients with crappy veins, hepatic lipodosis cat weighing 20 lbs with bp of 80, 74,74, and then 100 after three boluses...kitty also had a feeding tube...
the sad part about the entire evening was that a patient in isolation was neglected and actually died in that back ward... the kitty was in bad shape to begin with but there is NO EXCUSE for a patient to die in that manner. unfortunately, the ER techs are responsible for iso cases as well but we were too damned busy to get back there...
no doubt, we'll be blamed for it.
the most infuriating part of the entire evening was when all of the admins came in to say goodbye to me...in the midst of my running around to get shit done, they made me stop so that they could wish me well. then they all left to go out on a friday night...knowing full well how busy we were and how short staffed we were.
nice eh?
Haven's last day is tonight and Dr. Seaman's last day is Oct. 2.
the new technician (which i really liked working with, has also asked me to let her know how the jersey hospital works out...she lives in jersey and seems to be fed up with working conditions at nycvs as well. the only admin i respect, Carla is also planning to give 2 weeks notice.
this isn't growing pains. it's management not giving a shit about their employees and patients/clients. the only thing that matters to them is how to make as much money as possible while putting the patients and employees at risk by saving money and not providing adequate help. sure, you can put a catheter in by yourself, but the patient better be half dead...
i leave the hospital with pain in my heart for the patients and some of the employees and interns...who work their asses off and still won't see their %5 given back to them.
so, i commemorated the day by running the 5th Ave Mile...sponsored by continental airlines. my age group ran at 10:45am. after a bad night at a 14 hour overnight shift, i took a train to the east side, camped my clothes etc at the local ny sports club, and walked to the start line. i finished, ran a decent race under the circumstances and got home at about 2pm. i was up 24 hours. i received a few phone calls about my older sis who had entered the hospital to have gall bladder surgery. she apparently doubled over with pain and was taken by a co-worker to the ER where they performed laporascopic surgery to remove the gall bladder. won't be able to visit her... but will plan at some point (after my interviews are done and i'm settled in a full time job) to drive to PA to visit her.
it's all a leap of faith isn't it.