Oh, hi! I didn't see you there. Have you been waiting long? Just thought I'd stop in to blow the dust off this thing and drop you a few updates.
So, here I am with a few days "off". Fresh off of my last shift at the hospital for the Clinical phase of my course. It's been a great month: No exams looming in the near future, no scenarios to worry about. Just spending time at the hospital practicing skills and observing procedures (on real people, for once!). We spent at least one day in as many different units as we could, finishing up with four days in the ER. Some units were unbearably slow, some were too busy for me to even remember all of the things I'd seen. But for you, I will try.
I'd like to share with you some of the more interesting sights and lessons. I was originally going to squeeze it all in right now, but I think I'll break it up over several posts. I'm just too long-winded. If I wrote it all out now the sheer length of it would discourage anyone from reading. Just let me know if I wander too much. I'd hate to bore you. So! Let's see...
The Psych Ward:
I'm not sure what I was expecting to see here, but I was quite surprised. These weren't the kind of people that are in Hollywood's Psych wards. The people who think they are birds, or Abe Lincoln, or from the future. There was, however, one interesting case of a young man who was a hockey referee, but at any given time believed he was actually refereeing a game. Any time the Doctor would ask him to do something, the patient demanded to see the NHL rulebook. One time, after arguing in his room for several minutes, the Doctor came back to see us. We asked him how it went and he said, "Well, he gave me a ten minute misconduct."
Back to my point. The patients I met were there for a reason, obviously, but very few of them showed it. Several of them were among the most "normal" people that I met in the Hospital. Many of them had checked themselves in because they knew they needed help, they wanted help, and won't leave until they feel they are well again. For me, it was a great reality check. I have a lot of respect for those patients.
That was my first day in the hospital, and my only day in Psych. So I didn't see much of them for the rest of the month. I saw the occasional patient around the hospital, some looking much better than when I saw them in the ward, some not. One young guy had looked and sounded particularly down and out while wandering the halls. I had spoken to him, and noticed his smiles were few and far between. I spotted him on the sidewalk outside the hospital as we were driving in for our last shift, just the other day. Across the street from him were two girls out for a run in shorts and t-shirts. I glanced back to see him wearing one of the biggest smiles I have ever seen as they smiled back and ran by, followed by his gaze. We had a good laugh at that, but his face showed the look of someone who was just happy to be alive.
We all live for something, I guess. I'd say he's feeling better.
-AM
empty as a pocket
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