New ways to survive cardiac arrest
Interesting article on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
The upshot: You have a much better chance of surviving cardiac arrest if you get CPR early.
Days of Rest
One of the things that I have learned from working (even in a job that you like) is that the days you have off are just as important as the days that you are at work.
At the beginning, you might want to work as much as your employer will allow--simply because you like your job, you want overtime, or both.
That's the trap into which I fell when I started working shifts in the ER. We are open 24/7... never closed. Heck, even Wal-Mart closes on Christmas day! There are very few places which are truly 24-hour operations, and need a full staff for all 24 of those hours.
Introducing Tales from the ER
Hi, I'm Branson, and I work in an emergency department.
Sounds like the beginning of a recovery meeting. I guess this is step one.
In my time there, I deal with lots of patients, and see the best and worst of humanity. I'll tell that to anyone who asks me about my job. I deal with people who need to be there, and are extremely grateful. Unfortunately, I also deal with the people who don't really need to be there, and feel that they are entitled to everything. I take the good with the bad, though, and do enjoy my job.
I've done some thinking about this, because I am usually pretty private about my job. However, from my experiences, I have gained some insight on humanity and the state of the medical industry in America, and I want to share. Maybe it will help you, maybe it will be good for a laugh, but it should definitely make you appreciate what healthcare workers put up with on a daily basis.
This is NOT going to be a "omg at work today this woman came in today and her intestines came out through her mouth that's soooo nasty" feature. Patient privacy is a huge issue, and I intend to err on the side of being too secretive, liberally removing items from context when necessary, changing storylines where prudent, and even sprinkling in some fiction if needed.
I want to inform and empower, because, as cliché as it is, knowledge is power.
Hopefully, you will gain something from these occasional musings.