I had a few notable events happen in the ED this week.
- A man was brought in by EMS who was gorked out of his mind and was under arrest by the local gendarmes. He was tweaking hard. Unsurprising to anyone who saw him, his urine tested positive for amphetamines. It seems that he used some meth, beat up his elderly roommate, stole the roommate’s gun, and walked around the neighborhood firing off shots. I spoke with the first cop to arrive, and he told me that he ordered the man to drop the gun, and was only going to tell him once. To treat him, all I could do was give him 2mg of IV Ativan every hour to keep him calm. Two days later, he was still in the PCU and still feeling the effects of the meth.
- A woman came in with abdominal pain and symptoms that made me think she might have COVID. I tested her for it, and she did in fact have COVID. When the results of her abdominal CT came back, she had a large mass in the head of her pancreas that was consistent with cancer. There were also masses in her liver and lungs. The Dr and I had to tell her and her husband that she likely won’t live to see Christmas.
- A 95 year old woman came in after driving her car through the front of a store. She got the gas and brake pedals confused. In her defense, when she learned to drive, there was no brake pedal. All you did was say “Woah.”
- Had a 16 year old with mono, and another one who had spinal meningitis.
- A 30 year old jumped out of the car he was riding in and attacked a motorist in an apparent case of road rage. The target of his ire put the car in drive and ran over his ass. He became my patient, and it took up more than two hours of my time getting IVs, X-rays, giving pain meds, and all of the other things needed to treat an idiot with a blood alcohol of over 300 and a pair of broken legs. He is going to need surgery.
- We got a new director for the ED last month, and she announced that nothing would change. This week, she laid off 25 nurses. The very next day was my day off, and they called me at home to ask me to come in and work a 12 hour shift for overtime.
Posting has been and will be thin. I have a major project coming up that I need to work on.
21 Comments
jimmyPx · August 4, 2024 at 9:17 pm
DM, it’s time to get your resume together. Between them screwing you on training and then the layoff and forced overtime, you have dumbasses in management running things via spread sheet and not experience and common sense. Time to pull the eject handle out of that place.
TRX · August 4, 2024 at 9:30 pm
> This week, she laid off 25 nurses. The very next day was my day off, and they called me at home to ask me to come in and work a 12 hour shift for overtime.
—
What, are they hiring management from the last place you worked?
The new job is starting to sound an awful lot like the old one.
Joe T · August 5, 2024 at 6:42 pm
Headcount is a different budget than OT. I’m sure there are ‘prospects’ connected to the usual suspects who remit what is needed once employed.
This is Bat Country · August 5, 2024 at 6:39 am
Teevee is showing the DeSantis hurricane presser with sign language in the corner.
It only gets worse under Brandon and the Curry Cackler.
Elder fam had a growth on gall bladder and liver, they successfully removed it and yes COV-LARP participant from early on.
Hang tough and H/T.
Noway2 · August 5, 2024 at 7:26 am
As much as we keep hearing about a shortage of nurses, I can’t imagine the justification for laying them off. If there are any layoffs needed, it’s the managers making these decisions.
Anonymous · August 5, 2024 at 7:38 am
My mother in law passed this year from pancreatic cancer. Took only 6 weeks from discovery to death.
Turbo cancers are on the rise
Aesop · August 7, 2024 at 1:18 am
Turbo-cancers may well be on the rise, but that ain’t one of them.
The hallmark of pancreatic cancer, since Ever, is that there are rarely signs or symptoms of having it until it’s already Stage IV or very very late Stage III.
For reference, Stage V is lying in a casket.
Standard Pancreatic Cancer diagnosis:
“You have pancreatic cancer. Anything you want to do, do now. Like today, or this week.. And then put your affairs in order. Including cancelling any long-term future plans.”
Deepest condolences, but what you’re reporting has been bog-normal literally forever.
J J · August 5, 2024 at 7:50 am
Well, hospital management all go to the same seminars, read the same publications and embrace the same philosophies from those.
Ditto just about any other profession.
old cranky guy · August 5, 2024 at 8:06 am
“A 30 year old jumped out of the car he was riding in and attacked a motorist in an apparent case of road rage. The target of his ire put the car in drive and ran over his ass.”
Poetic justice.
It's just Boris · August 5, 2024 at 12:44 pm
How many grains is an F150? In all seriousness, out daily drivers are probably the most deadly things most of us own, in terms of sheer stored and deliverable energy.
Stealth Spaniel · August 5, 2024 at 9:02 am
Used to be, when we lived in a REAL country and had sane people pulling levers and pushing buttons, that being an RN or above meant virtually lifetime employment. The last thing that my mom worried about was unemployment as hospitals, doctors, and private care agencies were calling her daily. Fast-for-ward to our era of Karens, crooks, and shenanigans and RNs are treated like retail clerks. What a crazy and sad world we now live in.
Divemedic · August 5, 2024 at 1:47 pm
There are still plenty of jobs available for RNs, but the open jobs are the ones that no one wants: home health care, nursing homes, and others like it.
Jonathan · August 5, 2024 at 2:32 pm
Ugh, sounds like a tough week with more to come…
My current job, we haven’t been over 60% staffed in as long as anybody can remember. But we don’t have to deal with the general public and the low staffing means we get projects done when they get done – our customers don’t have any other options.
Too many employers don’t want to pay market rates to get people – and when they can get people, too many are stupid about it…
TRX · August 5, 2024 at 6:40 pm
When I worked in IT, the standard procedure was to keep people about two years. Then the layoffs would begin, followed by hiring a new batch at, of course, lower pay. I still don’t see how it saved any money; productivity would be very low at first, and then the cost of their mistakes had to be figured in. But I’m just a lowly computer programmer, the Big Thoughts of the MBA types won’t fit in my tiny brain.
Tennessee Budd · August 5, 2024 at 6:54 pm
“All you did was say “Woah.”
Actually, no. They could spell pretty well back then. They said “Whoa”.
Divemedic · August 6, 2024 at 6:33 am
You got me there.
Dan D. · August 5, 2024 at 7:33 pm
That’s simply brutal about the woman with the CT revelation. Both for her and you and the doctor. Average people don’t address their mortality. When I worked on the amazing treatment machines at RefleXion I had to learn a lot about cancer. The biggest surprise was for nearly everyone its not a matter of if but when.
I’ve written it here before and I’ll repeat it: thanks for doing the job you do.
Unknownsailor · August 6, 2024 at 2:38 am
IME, when new leadership comes in and announces “no changes,” you instantly know that they will change everything, just because they can.
Gerry · August 6, 2024 at 8:19 am
When we were acquired by Big Oil, their management said everyone would keep their job.
A few weeks later at a meeting with the HR department, they said anyone with positive employment record would have a job. When I pointed out the difference, they said, ” Don’t worry Gerry, you will still have a job.” I took this as foreshadowing, worked on my resume and started a new career. They laid off those that remained with in a year.
They once moved 5000 people to form a new division from all over the country, then closed the operation within 6 months.
Aesop · August 7, 2024 at 1:26 am
It’s not all doom and gloom.
When one hospital dumps staff, suddenly every other hospital around gets staffed up with experienced RNs.
Then Layoff General is suddenly sucking hind teat, and has to take the last kids picked for the team, and their care sucks for years afterwards. Some never recover.
Best part: the last round of layoffs are always the managers who bent over for the higher-ups and fired everyone else. That’s what happens when you bet on the crocodile eating you last.
They either retire after that, or move far away, even to another state, in 90% of cases, because of that rep, and find out they can’t get a job anywhere for more than half their old salary.
Trust me when I tell you it’s fun to watch, and like all revenge, best served cold.
snuffy · August 11, 2024 at 4:23 pm
Where did dude find meth without fentanyl? Asking for a friend.
Comments are closed.