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Showing posts with the label Emergency Medicine

Productivity Guilt Versus Productivity

Hey all ,  When life gives you lemons , you're supposed to make lemonade. When you're unemployed, you're supposed to make most of the time . When you're unmarried you enjoy the best phase of your life. If you are no longer doing it , the guilt seeps in.  It’s the constant nagging feeling that you should be doing more. If you’re not doing everything, then you’re feel like lazy slacker who will never reach goals. Things are worse if you are somebody sliding in between both zones.  Employed v/s unemployed thought process As I sit unemployed ,I realised with my first hand experience that employed and unemployed people think so differently. They plan so differently. Their approach towards life is so different. So ,  I already know the percentage of people who'd agree or disagree.  As unemployed person , I know you have what others don't have time and opportunity. I also understand that I don't have what they have , support , stability and finances. Th

Control 4 remote to grow

Hey all  The idea of growth is so controversial . Its subjective. The role of knowledge is again subjective. What happens to most of us is we stop studying after college. After which we eventually find employment, and the charge of the growth is handed over to our employer. The struggle of working ass off begins. The struggle of doing things which are right according to their perspective begins. Why not? They have been here for longer time. Its convenient isn't it? To follow path that's already carved. There is nothing wrong with it.  Things begin to get monotonous, people pleasing behaviour overtakes. We mentally put our credibility in somebody elses hand. Like a childs growth milestones your career milestones begin to be predefined. Why  and how knowledge and exposure helps? When you read more, not just about your field but about various other fields. When you try various things. Risk things , at least to an extent ... you grow. The growth begins to bo

Empathy in a sentence

Hey all As emergency Physicians , we are expected to have empathy , all time . Like a stethoscope it's supposed to hang around the neck.  Sometimes we are so emotionally triggered ourselves it becomes difficult to empathize with others. In a pandemic like situation , you might have just declared somebody dead, on point B another patient is yelling because his meal is late by x minutes. You have to calm them down . Empathise with them . Walking away stating that's not my job doesn't help.    It's like when you're on an airplane and the flight attendant tells you that, in an emergency, put the oxygen mask on yourself before supporting others. The point is that sometimes we need to tend to ourselves before we can be available to others. Self-Empathy is your relationship oxygen mask. With it, you will be more internally resourced and able to create resolutions that value all parties. Having venting resources helps. But sometimes these situations

VIP taxi in Emergency department

Hey all This article is picked from Dr Anthony Rodigin USA , was published on the iem journal. Found it really nice. Thought of sharing it. During your emergency care career, you will not be able to avoid seeing the so-called VIP (very important…) patients from time to time. Whether it’s a VIP according to someone else higher up, general society or even your own perceptions actually does not matter – the end game is one and the same. The best time to ponder and prepare regarding your future approach to VIP patients is now – before you are in the midst of the actual situation. Now, if you are an idealist, things may seem blatantly easy. You shall and you of course will evaluate each one of your patients the same, regardless of anything about them! It may in fact feel insulting if someone were to insinuate that this case deserves or requires that “special” or “above and beyond” care. Doesn’t that imply that all of your other patients so far have been getting just average or so-so treatme

ED burnout

Hey all Found an interesting article on Healthecareers.com by Emily O'Brien. On Doctor Burnout and what it means Burnout is tough on anyone. It disrupts happiness levels, relationships to those closest to us, and even our careers.  The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) tool is used to measure emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and dissatisfaction with work accomplishments and measures job fatigue as defined by the World Health Organization. MBI is recognized as the leading measure of burnout and authenticated by decades of extensive research.  A 2017 Mayo Clinic study declared that almost half of the United States doctors—an astounding 44 percent—report some degree of burnout. But for physicians, this exhaustion cuts even deeper.  There's a ripple effect : decreased patient care and an impact on the healthcare system. One key factor contributing to discontent is electronic health record systems. In fact, one study that found that for every hour physicians spend with patient

Break ke bad

Hey all, Life speeden up and gives you breaks when you expect the least. Probably that's how the life is supposed to be. I happened to take a break a decent one that usually practicing physicians don't take for personal reasons. Usually women take such breaks either for wedding or maternity, mine was different.  Before getting back to work , I had various reservations. The most fearsome being losing hold over procedures and clinical knowledge. As a team leader you're supposed to be the best person to do procedures . With so many speculations in my head , I decided to keep walking.  Day one , since we live in pandemic, I had to brush myself with the protocols. I did take help of the second in line. She was of immense help. The Central lines , arterial lines scared me. Yes, they did. I asked my consultant to stay as I was really unsure of my capabilities. I don't know if it's just me or people usually have this self doubt. He stood behind. I supervised the procedure a

Micromanagement

Hey all I am back again with food for thought. Because what goes up there in my mind kind of reflects in my blog.  The thing that's up today is micromanagement. Micromanaging people and our thoughts keeps us away from our goals and bigger picture. It's like halting on a race course criticising how poor the infrastructure of particular area is.  The idea that our mind should be cultivating is , I have been through this tract it's uncomfortable , let this pass. When in better position, I'll make it better for people who pass from here after me or create strategies to pass through the tract effortlessly.  Micromanagement distracts you. Exhausts you.I am learning to prioritise and have a bigger picture.  So far so much.

EM on MARS -Coolest thing I woke up to today !

I got no words! WOW! 🤩😍

Food makes you feel good

Hey all , I strongly agree that good food has power to impact your mood. Half of the time when I am angry, I am hungry. This weekend , I thought of making my edge my strength and make a 3 course meal!  And tadaaa! Here it is                                  Meal by yours truly !  Being a sweet tooth and a EM leader I was hyper-critical about my desert. It took me alot of persuasion by family and friends to believe it was actually edible and nice.  I don't know, I feel you don't believe it until your mind accepts the fact. Still pondering over it. So far so much

One of the best things that happened in my life

Hey all, Today onwards I intend to start gratitude posts. Why today? Today happens to be the day I completed my AHA lifesaver instructor course.  Of many things I am thankful for to almighty...This is one of them. There is no better way to give back to society than producing more lifesavers. Being a link in saving a life is so overwhelming. Here are snaps from today's celebration. Excuse my punctuations. So far so much!

Forever question marks

How do our excitement, commitment, joy, honor and gratitude fit into our resolution? What is our role in a troubled world at a difficult time? Are we ready to break away from the shackles of the past to chart a positive future? Are we ready to rise above the limitations of where we are to the potential of where we could be? Part of reality is to hope for the best but to be prepared for the worst.

❤️ Moments

The Delivery : Unplanned Wicketkeeper

Hey people  I am back this month with an exciting incident to share!  Midnight on a night shift I receive a call from my triage doctor stating he has a lady whos complaining of bloating, he has asked about Last Menstrual Period and they're not okay revealing it. I asked him to hold the patient there while I come to examine. Next moment, was my triage doctor inside with the lady on the wheelchair right behind him.  The first visual was her expression of pain I saw through the counter. I asked them to take her on a bed while I rushed to see her. My teammate told me something is fishy. I see a gravid uterus not less than 30 weeks ! Don't tell my husband! I hid it all this while. Please , please! She said. I stared in disbelief. I asked her about how many weeks , she told me around 25 weeks. I ran to get my sterile gloves. My nursing staff  came to me and said mam! Come fast ! She seems to be in labour. When I examined I could feel the head and the membranes were about to rupture.

Burnout

Hey all! Burnout is  you run when all you need to do is Walk. Work is like a rubber ball, drop it and it will bounce back today or tomorrow. It doesn't have emotions. Health and spirit are like glass, you drop them , you have permanent damage.Theyll never be the same again. First hand experience. Burnout is when we listen to others but not our body. when we make time for others but not ourselves. We outperform ourselves but not in a good way. Testing yourself to an extent that you break yourself down is not a good idea. You start feeling burdened and frustrated over every little thing. we're all exhausted. slow down today. Allow yourself to rest, breathe and restart again! This is a seedlings of new life. we need to silence our mind. one meeds to stop chasing and pause. So far so much.

Eid Mubarak : you're positive for COVID 19

Hey all,   The thing with life is it's hardly ever monotonous. It gives you jerks if you think it's monotonous.  This Bakrid , all I wanted to do is pray , go do my job of contributing to save lifes , come back home , have some tasty food and sleep. Well , this is what I've been doing for past 3 years.  A day before Eid , I woke up all tired , with every part of my body hurting like it never did. I thought I had crossed my physical capacity and that could be the reason. I happened to check my temperature, Damn 100F . I thought to wait till next day , I didn't want to see the number 100 on the thermometer so I gulped paracetamol beforehand and headed to work. My friend asked me to go home and rest. But all I wanted to do is work, because I thought it would sound like an excuse I was making to get an off on Eid . Half way down the shift, I started having chills in the PPE ... I didn't dare to check the temperature, I quietly gulped another paracetamol and continued wo

Every cloud has a silver lining

Hey people, I am in a good mood. Good mood to write . ICU Things! A little away from my covid warriors up above. There is nothing worse than taming a wild cheetah . The same way , there is nothing like saving a wild emergency physician in a ICU. But what makes you stay , you need some meat for survival . What meat does ICU give you ? Such meat is called Central lines , arterial lines, intubation . They just make up a bad morning to a good one! You understand and value Emergency department even more ... Why? Because taking a call to do such invasive procedure out there in open under such uncontrolled environment is no joke. So far so much Bye

Intensive Care Unit - A world away from world

Hello my fellow social media addicts, Whatsup? After my first blog , that was more about adjusting , rather tuning my pace in the ICU from ER . This is just the continuation. While in ER , where you're the aggressive one person who is counseling the family on what has acutely happened , the random febrile illness is a septic shock , the need for investigation and payment of bomb of a price for staying in a intensive care unit . The struggle is real. You explain every moment , you explain the progress minute by minute , hour by hour . You justify the need of investigation in sections . The amount of stress I realized is Oh my God! Yes , there is so much stress! As Emergency Physicians we juggle so much! to be precise "The Emergency Department".  You got to have that flair to differentiate you from every other medigeek ! You got to have that flair to differentiate you from a lawyer ! You got to have that flair that makes you better than any psychotherapist !

Madam, calm down this is not ER!

Hey people, I am back. Chilled out.On a break From ...fast life ,annoying patient attendants...But wait ... I already miss emergency! For people who are clueless about the rant, I've been posted in ICUs lately.  Life is different here, very different... slow...  All the jugads you do in emergency don't seem to work here, things are static here.  The only thing the staff here tell me is , mam slow down! This is not ER ! Things here go slowly !Nothing will happen. It seemed like holding a cheetah in a zoo !  I go to a stable patient, reassess him . Run back to my ICU consultant...When can we shift him out? I am so not used to patient not moving out of my area when intervention is not required. The only thing that keeps me hooked up in the beeping walls is my book. Book , that teaches emergency. Few days away from PPEs!  Rest Almighty knows! So far so much.

PPE ,summer and stamina!

Hey people, Ever been so tired that all you can do is sleep?  No depression, no evil eye  , no deficiency , nothing. All you do is sleep? Happens when the only choice you have is either to be safe or tired.The choice to rebreathe your own breath in a closed shield or wait to get your self ventilated trying to transfer a ventilated person from one facility to another. Transporting the patients to the CT scan bagging them , lead aprons hanging on your so called strong bodies . Bagging the patient till the CT is artefact free. With the summer on going you have plans... Plans your mind makes to study books , pray , update , socialise. You go home with plans , reach home.  Your body does nothing but falls on bed . Laughs at your mind and plans , giggles and says.  The world has slowed down, so should you, I can be out of energy , did it ever occur to you? You better understand this ,  Study and all plans can come later, Be thankful that you're alive! Eat, sleep, be thankful