I am med student, hear me roar

I am up to my elbows in revision, scratching around my notes and the internet to try and make sense of nephritic vs. nephrotic syndrome or RDS vs. Transient Tachypnoea of the the Newborn, so I've not had time to come up with a topic for a blog post recently. I did, however, find time to have opinions about stuff on a friend's podcast, so if you wonder what I sound like, wonder no more:

Hear me talk

Disclaimer: I didn't think through everything I said, so take what I say with a pinch of salt. I'm not one for talking in absolutes if have time to think about what is coming out of my mouth.

Right, back to the books.

Ciao

Of roles and expectations

I've just finished listening to another excellent episode of Pseudopod, a weekly podcast of horror short stories and this week's was particularly interesting for me. It focuses on a woman who comes to a village under the guise of helping when in fact she has a darker motive.

Alasdair, the host of the podcast, does a wonderful job (as always) of deconstructing the themes of the story. For anyone in healthcare they are juxtaposed between being an everyday part of the job and so very important that if you stop and think about it, our responsibilities are staggering.

The patient will see you as a caraciture

People put their lives in our hands and, more often than not, accept that whatever we do for them or ask them to do is in their best interests. When I push the drug trolley around people accept that because I am dressed like a nurse, seem quite comfortable and friendly, I must be giving them the right medication at the right time etc. etc.

Every nurse I know has made at least one drug error.

Every doctor I know has made at least one drug error/ misdiagnosis.

And yet they come to us. Because we look the part, because they believe in us, our uniforms, our stethescopes, our strange language. There is another component, I think. We have entered into a social contract. We have chosed our roles and promised to fulfull them to the best of our abilites. That, I would argue, is the reason people come to us.

It is both a privilege and a responsibility.

Getting things done

If you are anything like me you can't remember any of the long list of the real life tasks that mount up when you're not in the hospital trying to remember any of the long list of demands that nursing/ medicine/ general serfdom generates.

To this extent I have spent the last year working with Remember the Milk to try and stay on top of things. It's a nice, spartan set-up with a decent enough iPhone app (yes I have an iPhone, no it is never more than 10 feet from me at any point in the day). It can be a little less than intuitive at times, but rarely is it difficult to use. The only real down side is the cost - $25 (convert that as you please) for a year's subscription. But that is only for a "Pro" account - mainly the reason I have one is for the iPhone app.

I realised I needed a system when I found myself using backs of envelopes to organise my life and when I lost one, I'd lose my plan for the week with inevitable consequences.

I'd also point you in the direction of Merlin Mann, a Californian who makes a living from telling businesses how to get things done better. He's not your usual cheap suit, bad tan, bright smile BS seller. And he does the very (occasionally painfully so) funny podcast You Look Nice Today, a self-proclaimed journal of emotional hygiene.