The House of God

Two of the patients on the ward are now only in hospital because they broke their osteoporotic bones whilst an inpatient for other problems. I don't describe them as gomers, but they sure went to ground. The House Of God is as relevent as it ever was. And Rule 13 will always be my favourite.

Bodies by Jed Mercurio though - this is my book of the moment. Blistering, visceral, disgusting, beautiful, genius. One of my friends maintains that he is a twat for feeling this way about medicine. But I think the training, and especially the work, has the potential to change who a person is to a huge extent. And I don't think it's often a positive change. Positive in the sense that they can function better as doctors, maybe, but I think everyone in medicine loses a certain amount of compassion and empathy. It's survival. I know I have. Things still have the ability to get to me - Pale Boy a few posts back - but it's not often now.

A quick rant

The Boy has just finished his obligatory time sheets to ensure that he is keeping to the European Working Time Directive. He is truthful on the form. He is called into the Clinical Director's Office to explain why his time management skills are not allowing him to leave on time. This makes me pissed off - if there is not enough staff, meaning he has to stay until 7 or 8, surely that means that they need more staff, not people leaving early to keep to timesheets. Why lie on forms? Why do them in the first place if you are not going to believe a result that doesn't go their way? What good will this do the patients? The only people it is going to make happy is the managers who can then say that they don't have to pay him for the extra hours, or hire extra doctors. If they are expecting us to lie so we can be underpaid and overworked, nothing will change.
Anyway, enough of that. I am really liking the people I work with. I have met some real stonkers since I started, but everyone in my team is beautiful. They are nice to patients, nice to each other, and even almost always nice to the nurses, which is rarer than you might think. Even the seniors! My SHOs all went to teaching this afternoon, leaving me alone on the ward with 20 patients. I asked the registrar if it would be ok to bleep her if I had any questions. She said I could bleep her any time about anything I wanted. And I am getting used to the different consultants. The one that insists on everyone being treated for a UTI, no matter what. The one I have to never present any patients under the age of 60. The one who I have to not wear low tops with otherwise I won't get eye contact. ;-)

Things you really don't want to see in hospitals, #1

One of your patients with dementia and urinary retention, who you'd spent a long time catheterising with a long term catheter, walking out of his room at 6pm, minus that crucial little tube, with blood dripping. Oh dear. Ummm, operator, could you tellme the number for the on call urology reg?