Somewhat frazzled
Today was a more-than-usually bizarre day at the lab. For about an hour and a half, first thing in the morning, more than one of us was engaged in trying to hold down a particularly strong two year-old for a particularly difficult and large blood draw, all as the child's screams echoed through the lab.
While that was still going on, poor Jen got barfed on by a pregnant lady to whom she'd just given the sugar drink for a glucose tolerance test. I overheard after the patient had left:
Cheryl: "You sure picked a nice time to get sloppy. What did you do, spill urine on yourself?" (meanwhile child's screams in distance, us short-staffed due to the number of people holding the kid down)
Jen: "Somebody just puked on me, dude!"
Then I had to run out to the hospital, where among others, I had to draw an old lady who was clearly demented and needed the CNA and the nurse to hold her down for the draw. Even so, she still kept looking straight at me and yelling, "I hate you! I hate you! Look at yourself! You're terrible!"
Next I drew a fellow who was trying to take off his mesh restraint vest, which is designed to secure the patient to the bed or his arms to his chest in case he goes crazy, and not to be removed by the patient. As I drew him, he said in an eerily calm voice: "I seem to have mistakenly put on this vest instead of my shirt. I'd be greatly indebted to you if you would help me remove it."
Back at the lab, I called back a nice old lady. When I asked her for her name and date of birth, she told me her name without any problem, but then said, "I'd like to tell you my date of birth, but I'm afraid I'd only be guessing."
I got her birth date from her son. But then, on commenting that she had a nice Southern accent, I asked her where she was from. Mississippi. "What part?" I asked.
"Oh, goodness," she said. "It was all so long ago..."
While that was still going on, poor Jen got barfed on by a pregnant lady to whom she'd just given the sugar drink for a glucose tolerance test. I overheard after the patient had left:
Cheryl: "You sure picked a nice time to get sloppy. What did you do, spill urine on yourself?" (meanwhile child's screams in distance, us short-staffed due to the number of people holding the kid down)
Jen: "Somebody just puked on me, dude!"
Then I had to run out to the hospital, where among others, I had to draw an old lady who was clearly demented and needed the CNA and the nurse to hold her down for the draw. Even so, she still kept looking straight at me and yelling, "I hate you! I hate you! Look at yourself! You're terrible!"
Next I drew a fellow who was trying to take off his mesh restraint vest, which is designed to secure the patient to the bed or his arms to his chest in case he goes crazy, and not to be removed by the patient. As I drew him, he said in an eerily calm voice: "I seem to have mistakenly put on this vest instead of my shirt. I'd be greatly indebted to you if you would help me remove it."
Back at the lab, I called back a nice old lady. When I asked her for her name and date of birth, she told me her name without any problem, but then said, "I'd like to tell you my date of birth, but I'm afraid I'd only be guessing."
I got her birth date from her son. But then, on commenting that she had a nice Southern accent, I asked her where she was from. Mississippi. "What part?" I asked.
"Oh, goodness," she said. "It was all so long ago..."