Back To Work
I truly hadn't missed the place...I would've been quite happy to stay home another day, but hey, one must pay the bills! I originally had about four or five shifts taken off me over the next fortnight as the then acting NUM who was due to finish up in that position in late September decided to finish early as the stress was just too much for her, so she needed to acquire some shifts as she was coming back onto the floor. Who better to take shifts from than the part-of-the-furniture casual? Anyway, I had had mixed feelings about that. Most of me didn't mind as having three days off in a row, working one day, then having another two or three off sounded quite appealing but on the other hand, the money would've been nice. This afternoon, however, after some negotiationg with the new acting NUM, I've been able to retrieve my cancelled shifts as the department is one short on those shifts anyway! YAY!! =)
The Stroke Unit
If one were to give the Emergency Dept. a different name everyday, today the department would have to be called the pseudo stroke unit. Practically every single little old man or woman brought in by ambulance came in collapsed for goodness-knows-how-long, found by a neighbour, one sided weakness, with skyrocketing blood pressure and unable to speak. One came in really cold...try 33.6 C. I was still trying to warm him up by the time I handed over. He had collapsed some time during the early hours of the morning. He told the ambos that the last thing he remembers is that it was still dark outside, which means he was down for at least six to eight hours! His neighbours happened to look over the fence and he was lying face down on the ground outside in the yard.
I truly hadn't missed the place...I would've been quite happy to stay home another day, but hey, one must pay the bills! I originally had about four or five shifts taken off me over the next fortnight as the then acting NUM who was due to finish up in that position in late September decided to finish early as the stress was just too much for her, so she needed to acquire some shifts as she was coming back onto the floor. Who better to take shifts from than the part-of-the-furniture casual? Anyway, I had had mixed feelings about that. Most of me didn't mind as having three days off in a row, working one day, then having another two or three off sounded quite appealing but on the other hand, the money would've been nice. This afternoon, however, after some negotiationg with the new acting NUM, I've been able to retrieve my cancelled shifts as the department is one short on those shifts anyway! YAY!! =)
The Stroke Unit
If one were to give the Emergency Dept. a different name everyday, today the department would have to be called the pseudo stroke unit. Practically every single little old man or woman brought in by ambulance came in collapsed for goodness-knows-how-long, found by a neighbour, one sided weakness, with skyrocketing blood pressure and unable to speak. One came in really cold...try 33.6 C. I was still trying to warm him up by the time I handed over. He had collapsed some time during the early hours of the morning. He told the ambos that the last thing he remembers is that it was still dark outside, which means he was down for at least six to eight hours! His neighbours happened to look over the fence and he was lying face down on the ground outside in the yard.
