NICU madness and the sanity in between
So, my call on Monday was crazy with a capital C!
Seriously, I got to the hospital at about 6:30AM and the busy/crazy/stuff/demands/etc didn't stop until well after midnight. And I am not exaggerating! I went to grab some lunch in the cafeteria around 3PM, and my card didn't even work at the register. I had to march my sad little cafeteria sushi back to the cooler (since I had only three bucks of cash on me) and grab a cheaper piece of pizza. It was truly embarrassing. The lady at the register offered to buy me a soda or juice and I felt so silly. I was like, no, no I seriously have the money, my card just isn't working now!
Then, as I was walking back to the elevator to go up to the break room and scarf down the pizza, my pager went off... alerting me that one of my patients was about to have a PDA ligation and I needed to be there to monitor his BP, sats, etc. Ahh!! At that moment, all I wanted was 10 minutes to myself to eat and pee, in peace. I could feel the frustration welling up, but I clenched my jaw and was determined to not let myself cry in frustration. All I could think was... I hate the NICU.
The business did not stop there. I snuck away for 2 minutes to eat my pizza in 2 bites around 4PM. Then had a lull of activity around 10PM allowing for a 10 minute dinner. And finally at 3AM on Tuesday I saw my call room bed. Unfortunately in was only in three 30 minute bursts. Whew! Let's just say I was glad to go home at 1PM on Tuesday.
Now, I don't truly hate the NICU, it just gets frustrating for me with all the pressure and stress. I wouldn't choose that career and put that stress on myself purposefully.
Tuesday night and in my post-call state, I mustered up the energy to go to book club! A group of the Peds residents got together to hang out, have dinner, and talk about this month's book: The Devil Wears Prada! It was a lot of fun, and I was even pretty energized despite not sleeping the night before.
Today I was back to the NICU, but I got to escape to my continuity clinic in the afternoon. It was busy too, but nice. As I walked to the parking garage at five I realized that I really enjoyed clinic and the time I could take to talk with parents and kids. It was satisfying. :)
Seriously, I got to the hospital at about 6:30AM and the busy/crazy/stuff/demands/etc didn't stop until well after midnight. And I am not exaggerating! I went to grab some lunch in the cafeteria around 3PM, and my card didn't even work at the register. I had to march my sad little cafeteria sushi back to the cooler (since I had only three bucks of cash on me) and grab a cheaper piece of pizza. It was truly embarrassing. The lady at the register offered to buy me a soda or juice and I felt so silly. I was like, no, no I seriously have the money, my card just isn't working now!
Then, as I was walking back to the elevator to go up to the break room and scarf down the pizza, my pager went off... alerting me that one of my patients was about to have a PDA ligation and I needed to be there to monitor his BP, sats, etc. Ahh!! At that moment, all I wanted was 10 minutes to myself to eat and pee, in peace. I could feel the frustration welling up, but I clenched my jaw and was determined to not let myself cry in frustration. All I could think was... I hate the NICU.
The business did not stop there. I snuck away for 2 minutes to eat my pizza in 2 bites around 4PM. Then had a lull of activity around 10PM allowing for a 10 minute dinner. And finally at 3AM on Tuesday I saw my call room bed. Unfortunately in was only in three 30 minute bursts. Whew! Let's just say I was glad to go home at 1PM on Tuesday.
Now, I don't truly hate the NICU, it just gets frustrating for me with all the pressure and stress. I wouldn't choose that career and put that stress on myself purposefully.
Tuesday night and in my post-call state, I mustered up the energy to go to book club! A group of the Peds residents got together to hang out, have dinner, and talk about this month's book: The Devil Wears Prada! It was a lot of fun, and I was even pretty energized despite not sleeping the night before.
Today I was back to the NICU, but I got to escape to my continuity clinic in the afternoon. It was busy too, but nice. As I walked to the parking garage at five I realized that I really enjoyed clinic and the time I could take to talk with parents and kids. It was satisfying. :)