Currently I'm on the University of Minnesota's General Medicine (GM) night service (firm night float, I'm not sure why, nor is anyone sure why GM service is called firms here, but this is what we call it). Over all it is hit or miss on how busy it is in any given night. After reading an article about how to avoid burn out (I'm not really burnt out, but I've had 16 weeks of 70 hours each week, I'm ready for some kind of vacation), the article recommended making a game out of your work to help fight the burn out. In an effort to give this a try, I decided in the shower before work today to write down every page that I received on my shift. Just so it is known, for what ever reason this has been a light week (that is why I have time to do this). Never-the-less, this was enlightening and entertaining.
All the times are in military time. Only the pages that I received are here, not every thing that I did, or the nurses/doctors that I called.
Abbreviations: ED - emergency department, hbg - hemoglobin, pt - patient, d/c - discharge, A flutter - atrial flutter, RVR - rapid ventricular response, BP - blood pressure, med - medications
2000 - start of shift, received signout's one pt waiting in the ED
2044 - 7D* called w/ hbg result
2044 - 7A called about a question of a firm A pt's ativan
2100 - 6A pt for admit on the floor
2134 - 6A "please change pt's AM lab times"
2141 - 7A "pt did not d/c home today due to fever, please d/c the d/c order"
2203 - 7A pt requests more pain meds
2203 - 6B pt w/ a flutter w/ RVR
2218 - 6A pt's orthostatic BP results
2305 - 7A pain med request
0000 - Call from the MICU team
0015 - 7D hbg was 9.8
0044 - 7A pain med request
0100 - 7A sleep med request
0100 - pain med request
0128 - Pharm: drug reaction warning
0140 - 7A nasal spray request
0316 - 7A pt with abdominal pain
0438 - 7A a page to the wrong service
0649 - 7A to inform me about a low blood sugar from 0300 (why they didn't page at 0300 who knows)
0730 - sign out to the day teams, and go home
Overall a really light night on the paging front.
* - The medical floors are on the 6th and 7th floors. Each floor is divided into pods A-D.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Somebody's Grandma's Pancakes....
Conference weekend is upon us again. As luck would have it, I have Saturday off! I'm still recovering from a very challenging rotation (Cards 1). The funny thing is that I'm now on the General Medicine service which is not quite as challenging, but is also known as one of the more challenging rotations. This being said, I'm enjoying not having 30-hour shifts and instead having more of a 7 to 7-type of schedule. Bryn-Erinn bought some 100% maple syrup in hopes of making pancakes before the morning session of conference. However, late last night she discovered that the bag of pre-made mix was almost gone. I however saw this as another opportunity to do some good cooking and make something better than what can be made from a mix.
When I have made pancakes from scratch in the past, they have usually ended up a bit brick-like. I'm okay with this, but I wanted to make something special for my Love, that she would actually enjoy eating, so I jumped on-line and found a recipe labeled "Grandma's Pancakes". I have modified it a bit below. I suggest cooking in a well-seasoned cast iron pan or skillet.
3 tablespoons of butter, melted
1 cup of whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of white flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1-2 table spoons of sugar
1 1/4 cup of milk
1 orange peel zest (optional, but tasty)
Mix the the above and let sit for at least 30 minutes then add:
1 egg
3 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
Cook on a buttered cast iron pan. Add any pan cake topping - try 100% maple syrup. Enjoy!
New Additions...
After Scooter passed away there was a quiet void in our home. The corner once filled with chirps, squawks, and the famous angry bell had become still and silent. For me it took a few weeks to really register the fact that Scooter was gone, as I was away at work for most of the days and evenings immediately after his passing. However, for Bryn-Erinn the silence was deafening and isolating.
To my surprise she decided, sooner than either of us had expected, to get two new birds. She chose two different means of adopting. For the first, she wanted a young bird so she could train him and so he would be easier to integrate with another bird. For the other, she decided that she would rescue a bird who wasn't in a loving relationship. Following this ideal, she visited Pet Smart almost every day looking at the parakeets trying to find one that was interested in people and not particularly bonded to another bird. In the end she found a very small blue parakeet who likes to hold his left wing out for whatever reason (wing not pictured here, Bryn thinks he might have scoliosis). When he becomes scared or insecure his left wing quivers with great frequency. We both felt Lefty would have been a good name for him, but after much debate, we decided to call him Beaker - the name just stuck because Baby Beaker was cute. His training is going a little slow, as he hates to be away from his friend Lilly.
Bryn-Erinn found our other new friend on Craig's List. She saw the picture of a yellow bird in a very small cage and a description that her owners had lost interest in her. Bryn-Erinn took pity on this small creature and drove for over an hour to go and pick her up. To her horror, the cage was so small there was only room for food and water (both of which were empty) and no perches or toys. The family thought she was a boy and had named her Jeremiah.
I felt it was a great Biblical name, but Bryn-Erinn thought she needed a new name to go with her new life. We decided on Lilly, as the flower can often be yellow and is the sign of springtime and new growth. It was also fitting as she has a bit of a temper, and it is during those times that we call her Lilith (Frasier's wife from "Cheers" who could be petulant and aggressive from time to time). Fortunately, she is warming and her temper is cooling. She still won't come out of her cage or sit on our finger, but she is learning how to play and sing, albeit tentatively. She has also gotten to the point where she will put one foot on our finger. It took several days for her to learn what a perch is for, but now she enjoys a spacious cage full of toys and mirrors. We are confident that with great patience and love, she will at some point be more outgoing and confident.
The two birds get along well. Lilly at first would beat up on Beaker, and was generally aggressive towards him. Now as he has grown and begins to mature he fights back and they appear to have reached an understanding. They have grown quite fond of eachother, and now kiss and preen eachother like normal birds do. We are pleased to have them in our lives, and Bryn-Erinn is fully occupied with their training and re-education. Scooter is sorely missed, but the fun our two new friends bring helps take the edge of off of the void left by Scooter.
To my surprise she decided, sooner than either of us had expected, to get two new birds. She chose two different means of adopting. For the first, she wanted a young bird so she could train him and so he would be easier to integrate with another bird. For the other, she decided that she would rescue a bird who wasn't in a loving relationship. Following this ideal, she visited Pet Smart almost every day looking at the parakeets trying to find one that was interested in people and not particularly bonded to another bird. In the end she found a very small blue parakeet who likes to hold his left wing out for whatever reason (wing not pictured here, Bryn thinks he might have scoliosis). When he becomes scared or insecure his left wing quivers with great frequency. We both felt Lefty would have been a good name for him, but after much debate, we decided to call him Beaker - the name just stuck because Baby Beaker was cute. His training is going a little slow, as he hates to be away from his friend Lilly.Bryn-Erinn found our other new friend on Craig's List. She saw the picture of a yellow bird in a very small cage and a description that her owners had lost interest in her. Bryn-Erinn took pity on this small creature and drove for over an hour to go and pick her up. To her horror, the cage was so small there was only room for food and water (both of which were empty) and no perches or toys. The family thought she was a boy and had named her Jeremiah.
I felt it was a great Biblical name, but Bryn-Erinn thought she needed a new name to go with her new life. We decided on Lilly, as the flower can often be yellow and is the sign of springtime and new growth. It was also fitting as she has a bit of a temper, and it is during those times that we call her Lilith (Frasier's wife from "Cheers" who could be petulant and aggressive from time to time). Fortunately, she is warming and her temper is cooling. She still won't come out of her cage or sit on our finger, but she is learning how to play and sing, albeit tentatively. She has also gotten to the point where she will put one foot on our finger. It took several days for her to learn what a perch is for, but now she enjoys a spacious cage full of toys and mirrors. We are confident that with great patience and love, she will at some point be more outgoing and confident.The two birds get along well. Lilly at first would beat up on Beaker, and was generally aggressive towards him. Now as he has grown and begins to mature he fights back and they appear to have reached an understanding. They have grown quite fond of eachother, and now kiss and preen eachother like normal birds do. We are pleased to have them in our lives, and Bryn-Erinn is fully occupied with their training and re-education. Scooter is sorely missed, but the fun our two new friends bring helps take the edge of off of the void left by Scooter.
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