Tweet
Now that I work mainly for <hospital> instead of just outpatient centers, I've had to start taking call. We have to put up with so much crap on call it's ridiculous. Part of me wonders how much I really have to put up with and how much is me still being new at this, but I digress.
Yesterday I got a call from my coworkers asking if I could come in and do a scan at 430. FYI, 430 is when call starts. I said sure. So I got there at 430, turned all the equipment back on, put info in the computer, and called the unit to get the patient down for the test.
Unit: Ok, but it will be awhile.
Me: No problem.
I should have asked "Define awhile." This particular patient was on a ventilator which means they needed to have a nurse and someone from respiratory therapy come down as well. It's been awhile since I've done this particular scan with someone on a vent.
Time passes, which I was killing by surfing the web. Really there's nothing else I can do. I happen to glance up at the clock and it's now 730 and still no word on the patient. So I called the unit again.
Me: Hey, just wondering about this patient and when we're gonna do this test.
Unit: The patient's getting transferred to <other unit> I'm waiting on a call back from <other unit> about sending one of their nurses down. I didn't forget you, I promise.
Me: That's fine, but I need to know soon. I've got tracers that are decaying, so this needs to happen sooner rather than later.
Unit: Ok.
Another hour goes by and sure enough, my tracers have decayed past the point where I can use them. Fortunately for <unit> we have a standing order for tracers calibrated for 1130 and midnight, so I had more I could use. Otherwise, they would have either been SOL, or I would have had to call for more which takes an hour. I was getting more and more pissed off and finally called <other unit>.
Me: Was <unit> trying to coordinate with you guys to get a patient down for this scan?
Other Unit: Yes and the charge nurse just called so we should be there in the next 30 minutes.
Sure enough a few minutes later <unit> called to say they were on the way.
Now as I mentioned, it's been awhile since I've done this particular test on someone with a vent. But my coworker had set everything up for me and left instructions on how to hook everything up. The RT tech was a bloomin' idiot. And a patronizing jerk.
Me: Ok, I've got to get an aerosol into the patient's lungs, so I need to hook up my little contraption here to your machine.
RT: Well, how is that going to work?
Me: *staring at the helpful notes from my coworker--really it's pretty idiot proof* Well, I'm guessing this part goes to your machine and this part goes to the patient.
RT: I just don't see how that's going to work.
Me: Pretty sure you hook this part to my bucket and this part to the patient.
RT: Well, you better figure it out.
At this point, I'm really trying not to completely flip my lid seeing as how I've been there way longer than I should have and this maroon is basically insinuating I don't know how to do my job.
Me: This is how it goes.
RT: *huffs* I guess we'll try it. We'll know pretty fast if it doesn't work.
Well, whaddya know? I was right.
Not long into the aerosol delivery, RT suddenly decides she doesn't need a filter that's already attached. So instead of asking if it was ok to pull it off, she just unhooks and does it. THAT AEROSOL'S RADIOACTIVE YOU IDIOT!!! She basically just gave some to everyone. Then she sets the filter down on my imaging table. THE FILTER THAT'S JUST HAD RADIOACTIVE AEROSOL GOING THROUGH IT. I admit, I kinda shoved her out of the way to pick it up and try to keep the contamination to a minimum.
RT: Do you want me to get a wipe and wipe the table down?
Me: No! I'll get it. I don't want that getting spread all over the table and be in my pictures.
Now technically speaking, an RT is supposed to be monitoring the machine at all times. Once the aerosol was done and we got everything hooked back up, she left.
RT: As long as this light stays green, everything's good.
Well, sweetcheeks, neither I nor the nurse know what to do if the light doesn't stay green. I have no idea what all these flashing lights mean. So if something were to happen, pretty sure that's on you, darlin. She didn't even stay for lift help and the patient was on the hefty side. Once the scan was done I paged her overhead. And then she had the nerve to sound annoyed about it.
I was there for 5 hours. For a test that should have taken an hour at the most. Ugh. I hate call.
Yesterday I got a call from my coworkers asking if I could come in and do a scan at 430. FYI, 430 is when call starts. I said sure. So I got there at 430, turned all the equipment back on, put info in the computer, and called the unit to get the patient down for the test.
Unit: Ok, but it will be awhile.
Me: No problem.
I should have asked "Define awhile." This particular patient was on a ventilator which means they needed to have a nurse and someone from respiratory therapy come down as well. It's been awhile since I've done this particular scan with someone on a vent.
Time passes, which I was killing by surfing the web. Really there's nothing else I can do. I happen to glance up at the clock and it's now 730 and still no word on the patient. So I called the unit again.
Me: Hey, just wondering about this patient and when we're gonna do this test.
Unit: The patient's getting transferred to <other unit> I'm waiting on a call back from <other unit> about sending one of their nurses down. I didn't forget you, I promise.
Me: That's fine, but I need to know soon. I've got tracers that are decaying, so this needs to happen sooner rather than later.
Unit: Ok.
Another hour goes by and sure enough, my tracers have decayed past the point where I can use them. Fortunately for <unit> we have a standing order for tracers calibrated for 1130 and midnight, so I had more I could use. Otherwise, they would have either been SOL, or I would have had to call for more which takes an hour. I was getting more and more pissed off and finally called <other unit>.
Me: Was <unit> trying to coordinate with you guys to get a patient down for this scan?
Other Unit: Yes and the charge nurse just called so we should be there in the next 30 minutes.
Sure enough a few minutes later <unit> called to say they were on the way.
Now as I mentioned, it's been awhile since I've done this particular test on someone with a vent. But my coworker had set everything up for me and left instructions on how to hook everything up. The RT tech was a bloomin' idiot. And a patronizing jerk.
Me: Ok, I've got to get an aerosol into the patient's lungs, so I need to hook up my little contraption here to your machine.
RT: Well, how is that going to work?
Me: *staring at the helpful notes from my coworker--really it's pretty idiot proof* Well, I'm guessing this part goes to your machine and this part goes to the patient.
RT: I just don't see how that's going to work.
Me: Pretty sure you hook this part to my bucket and this part to the patient.
RT: Well, you better figure it out.
At this point, I'm really trying not to completely flip my lid seeing as how I've been there way longer than I should have and this maroon is basically insinuating I don't know how to do my job.
Me: This is how it goes.
RT: *huffs* I guess we'll try it. We'll know pretty fast if it doesn't work.
Well, whaddya know? I was right.
Not long into the aerosol delivery, RT suddenly decides she doesn't need a filter that's already attached. So instead of asking if it was ok to pull it off, she just unhooks and does it. THAT AEROSOL'S RADIOACTIVE YOU IDIOT!!! She basically just gave some to everyone. Then she sets the filter down on my imaging table. THE FILTER THAT'S JUST HAD RADIOACTIVE AEROSOL GOING THROUGH IT. I admit, I kinda shoved her out of the way to pick it up and try to keep the contamination to a minimum.
RT: Do you want me to get a wipe and wipe the table down?
Me: No! I'll get it. I don't want that getting spread all over the table and be in my pictures.
Now technically speaking, an RT is supposed to be monitoring the machine at all times. Once the aerosol was done and we got everything hooked back up, she left.
RT: As long as this light stays green, everything's good.
Well, sweetcheeks, neither I nor the nurse know what to do if the light doesn't stay green. I have no idea what all these flashing lights mean. So if something were to happen, pretty sure that's on you, darlin. She didn't even stay for lift help and the patient was on the hefty side. Once the scan was done I paged her overhead. And then she had the nerve to sound annoyed about it.
I was there for 5 hours. For a test that should have taken an hour at the most. Ugh. I hate call.
Comment