Hurtling down her home street at 80km/h; she grinned to herself as she whipped past the rows of gloomy suburban housing. This was the only source of fun for someone like her, a side of her that she kept from her parents. Diana zoomed past the end corner of her street barely letting off of the pedal. ÁROOO’! The sudden bark from a large greyhound woken up from the roar of a motorcycle caused a flinch from Diana and she lost control of the bike. A sudden pain in her legs like a million white-hot needles plagued her, but it was the sudden knock to her head that put her down.
I’d always known that this job would have its fair share of stress, but this was just too much. Already 4 children have passed away this week and now I have a fourth to look after. Knowing my luck, she will be gone by Sunday as well. ‘No’, I scolded myself internally. ‘You are the best doctor here. If anyone can save this girl it’s you!’. But, how can I actively help someone in a coma? The hit to her head was dead-on, and I’ve known people to never wake up from an injury way less severe than this. Still, I guess the show must go on.
I rarely even enter hospitals anymore. I don’t care for the bone-chilling air conditioning, the shocking injuries around every corner nor the condescending doctors. But that was beside the point right now, my little angel had been in an accident and I was her only relative in town to answer the hospital’s call. I walked briskly up the spotless white stairs to floor 4. 4F. 4F.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Habersham County, Tom was feeling slightly nervous as he exited the staff lounge and entered the hustle and bustle of County Hospital’s ER to begin his first shift as an RN. The first few hours of his shift passed slowly as Tom mostly checked vital signs and listened to patients complain about various aches, pains, coughs, and sniffles. He realized that the attending physician, Dr. Greene, who was rather “old school” in general about how he interacted with nursing staff, wanted to start him out slowly. Tom knew, though, that the paramedics could bring in a trauma patient at any time.
According to Howard Zinn, his main purpose for writing A People’s History of the United States was to give a detailed and more accurate account of the history of America. He wanted to give the history from the victim/native’s point of view. Instead of covering up the stories of the different people that weren’t included in our history lessons, he wants them to be able to be recognized as more than just the people that were eliminated by foreigners.
Nearing the end of my shift in the Emergency Department, I was requested to accompany a patient while the nurse readied the discharge papers. Upon entering the bay, I met a very small and fragile patient who was anxious to go home. Conflicted between my primary duties and responsibilities to complete training for two inexperienced volunteers, I decided to put forth my interests in teaching by demonstrating compassionate care to my trainees. Although the patient repeatedly refused my assistance, I gave my best effort to calm her as I cloaked a warm blanket around her. As I listened to her confide in me of all of her hospital anxieties, I was shocked from the lack of quality care she had received which made her feel more sick after the first
Every corner of the small suburban home was cluttered with a stockpile of useless items, and the hoarder’s paradise prevented us from bringing in our stretcher. As my partner, a new EMT, police officers, and I followed the man to the top story of his home, we could hear his wife’s terrified moans. I approached her and performed an assessment. Noticing rotation and shortening of her left leg, I recognized she most likely suffered a hip fracture and could possibly go into shock. She required quick transport to the hospital; however, the limitless cache of garbage that littered her house prevented rapid extrication. I began to break down what needed to be done. I delegated taking vital signs, administering treatment, and clearing a pathway
My supervisor, one of the head nurses, hurriedly pulled me to the corner of the bleach white hospital room and directed me to put on gloves, an eye mask, and a face mask. I felt as if I was preparing for war as I put on all of the required gear. The sound of expensive shoes click-clacked down the hallway indicating the arrival of two doctors who rushed into the room and shouted out orders to the staff while pulling the doors to the room shut along with the curtains. Two doctors, eight nurses, an intern, and a dying patient squeezed into the already claustrophobic ten by fifteen-foot room. The machine monitoring the patient’s vital signs continued to beep incessantly as my heart rate accelerated. Throughout my internship, I had never seen a patient in critical condition until that moment. I remembered my teacher’s advice if we were ever in a situation such as this: take a few deep breaths and sit down if you feel like you’re going to pass out. In that
I wasn’t sure what our day would entail. I could feel a slight tremor present in my body as I slid behind the steering wheel of the MKZ. Running my finger tips over the leather where the treads to the steering wheel was laced together I contemplated leaping from the car and running like hell. This was a seriously stupid and dangerous thing I was about ready to take part in. Could I do this? My mind wanders to the trunk of the vehicle… What’s back there? How much is back there? Enough to be charged with a misdemeanor…a felony! My heart jack hammered in my chest. Was the benefit worth the risk? Feeling panic setting in I swung my legs out of the vehicle just as Eloy took his seat behind me closing the door. His eyes caught mine in the rearview mirror.
A human’s development is a lifelong process beginning before birth and extending until the moment of death. In every moment of life, every human being is constantly evolving in their own person way. Some evolve mostly with physical changes while other evolve based more solely on mental evolution. However, as humans grow their cognitive abilities advance and decline in response to the brain’s growth from childhood and reduced function in their old age. Psychosocial development is also significantly influenced by physical growth, as our changing body and brain, together with our environment, shape our identity and our relationships with other people.
Jason stared up at Tyler's eyes; deranged, dilated, discolored. Tyler wore a smile on his face, his usual smirk twice as wide and displaying too many teeth. He held a silver and black pistol in his hand.
As I walked into the emergency room entrance, everything seemed normal. I could hear the hospital beds gliding across the floor, the monitors with a steady heartbeat, and the phones ringing. All of the nurses warmly greeted me as I began my weekly shift of 9-12 AM.
Before I could say anything, Mrs. Wallace motioned me to follow her. She led me to her bathroom and pulled out the largest first aid kit I’d ever seen. I found out later that she used to be a nurse. It hurt when she cleaned it out. When she finished wrapping it, it felt better than it had in
A typical day in a life of a missionary. I am awaken by the sound of
Running off the field I swoop up my girl, Daisy Windsor, who was cheering for me on the sidelines. We had just won our last football game of the season against the Mare Island Marines. I started thinking what my life wouldve been like if I continued on with the military field after I graduated. I couldve been one of those marines on the field. I shake the thought and focus on the beautiful girl in front of me in her cute little uniform. "Congrats Mr. Exeter," She smirked. I grabbed her hand and kissed the ring on her finger. "Thank you Mrs. soon-to-be Exeter." I met Daisy soon after I started college. We ran into eachother, literally, on the way to class on the first day. She dropped all her books on the floor and immediately dropped down to
The first image that comes to mind when most people think of an emergency department is the critically injured patient, as has been immortalized by television and Hollywood, wheeled in with an entire army of nurses and doctors in tow. To be honest, this is what I, too, expected - and yet my first memory of working in an emergency department was not of a particularly sick patient or observing an interesting procedure, but the realization that many of the patients were suffering from complications of completely preventable conditions. Patients with uncontrolled hypertension and diabetes were being started on dialysis or sent to the operating room for amputation, a scene I saw far more often than the car crash and gunshot victims I expected to swarm the floor. The dissonance was striking, to say the least.
The heat rose from my stomach to my chest as the tension of the unexpected grew. Behind the half-drawn curtain, I could see the anxious feet of pacing providers working around the patient. The beeping of the cardiac monitor grew louder as I walked towards the room. I first noticed his wife standing nearby, looking helpless and vulnerable. Then I glimpsed the patient. His face was pale and his hands hung from the stretcher as the nurse performed chest compressions. I walked into the room and for the first time said, “I will take over chest compressions next.” Although I was only a few days into my role as an emergency department technician (ED tech), I felt confident in my ability to serve as an asset to the team. In that moment I was no
present scenario. This is because the computer networks in Kamehameha Hospital in Honolulu has been