(Hep)Locked In

There are some duties when you just feel it.  Extractions are easy.  Lining is simple.  With a syringe or an IV cannula in hand, success is just one prick away.  Last night in the Pedia ER was one of those nights.

IV insertion on a neonate?  Sure.  ABG extraction on a thrashing toddler?  Got it.  Venous extraction on an obese teenager?  Do you need 5 or 10 cc, Ma’am?  Reinserting on that first neonate?  Let’s make it 2 for 2.  A fountain catch?  Just one G23 needle, please.

I’ll probably ruin my streak for this show of hubris, but for one memorable night, in Pedia no less, I was locked in.  Good times.

Exasperated or Empathetic? Seeing patients like this, a 15 year old girl whose congenital hydrocephalus has been ignored for so long, always puts me in a confused mood.  I almost want to scold the parents for being negligent, and hug the kid out of pity for their misfortune.  But then you have to step back and look at the bigger factors that contribute into these sad situations: the lack of money, lack of education, lack of adequate funding for public health care.  Then you just sigh deeply, try to look at the situation dispassionately, and focus your attention on the job at hand to do the best you can to help the people who are seeking your help.
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Exasperated or Empathetic?

Seeing patients like this, a 15 year old girl whose congenital hydrocephalus has been ignored for so long, always puts me in a confused mood.  I almost want to scold the parents for being negligent, and hug the kid out of pity for their misfortune.  But then you have to step back and look at the bigger factors that contribute into these sad situations: the lack of money, lack of education, lack of adequate funding for public health care.  Then you just sigh deeply, try to look at the situation dispassionately, and focus your attention on the job at hand to do the best you can to help the people who are seeking your help.