| Saturday, September 15, 2007 |
| On call |
I thought it would simple.
7.00pm "Sasha, you take that patient."
Send the pregnant patient to her bed, introduce myself, tell her to change into 'delivery gown', set up the cardiotocogram machine, set drip, take blood, get the delivery set, then start timing contractions.
9.00pm "Missy, nak kencing-lah."
Patient said she wanted to pass urine. Easy. Get the 'bowl'. Hold it for her. 1 minute. 2 minutes. 5 minutes.
Me: Cannot pass urine?
Patient: *sigh* Cannot-lah.
10.00pm "Missy, I feel like vomiting."
From that moment, everything went hay-wire. I moved as fast as I could to put on my gloves and get a bowl for her to vomit in, but before I could get the bowl to her mouth, she vomited.. on me! Thank God for plastic aprons. And rubber slippers. At least this time I wasn't wearing my RM40 leather shoes like the ones that got amniotic fluid all over it in the last labour room I was in.
But dear God, the smell of vomit was... I really have no words for it. I had to hold my breath for so long to keep myself from vomiting with her.
After that, I had to clean all the vomit, the drip ran out, the cardiotocogram kept giving me problems, the staff nurse kept asking me to run errands, I kept forgeting to come back and time the contractions, I had to insert a bladder catheter for her to pass urine etc..
12.50am Patient is ready to push the baby out. Call husband into labour room. Together with the staff nurses, we had to keep telling her how to push properly. Which for any first time mothers is always wrong. Staff nurse tried to teach me and yell at the mother at the same time. Talk about 'chaos'.
12.01am Baby's head is coming out. Episiotomy. Hold the 'perineum'. Yell at mother, "PUSH!!"
12.02am Baby out. Suction. Put baby on mother's chest. Pull the placenta out. Suture the episiotomy. Send the delivery set and episiotomy set to the 'dirty' utility room and wash everything. First time washing things with so much blood on it. Blergh. Pack the placenta. Send equipment back for staff nurse to check.
Examine mother. Take out drip. Give her Milo to drink. Tell her to rest. Half an hour later, take the baby to her. Help her change out of the delivery gown. Send her back to the ward by wheel chair. Help her into her bed. Say "Thank you." Go back to the labour room for the next delivery. Until your on-call ends at 5am.
Go home. Shower until you can't smell any more amniotic fluid and blood and vomit on yourself. Finish up portfolio write-up. Be back at ward by 7am.
'Collapse' in the ward pantry at 8am, hoping the doctor won't come and spot-check on you. *collapse as in take a nap"
Wake up at 8.45am. Continue ward work. Go for class at 10am. Have lunch at 11.45 pm. 'Collapsed' again in the student lounge at 12pm.
Not so simple after all. But it's worth it when you see this:
 Eventhough I didn't really conduct the delivery (just observed the staff nurse), it was worth it.
Not bad-le? Just a note: If you're a patient in a hospital, and the doctors and nurses in your ward are on-call, do tell them how thankful you are that they are staying up all day and night to look after you. God knows how they are able to survive for more than 30 hours with very little sleep.
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posted by Sha @ 10:52 PM  |
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