Saturday, October 08, 2005

Dear Overnight Charge Nurse;

Was it something I said?

Do you hate me? Is that it? It can't be, because I know you do this to other residents too.

But did you REALLY have to page me at 4 am (right after I had fallen asleep, 1/2 hour after the LAST page) to tell me that the patient has had blood in his urine for the last TWO DAYS!?!?! I mean, I agree that it is something we need to look into . . . but as you said, it's not getting worse (and at 5 am, when I was up again and working on another admission, the medicine resident who's been seeing him said the bleeding was BETTER, and besides, he'd had a traumatic catheter self-removal so actually he did it HIMSELF) so . . . anyhow, why, again, did you need to page me?

Let's talk about this, because if it's like this every time I am on call, I wil be brought to a massive incoherent rage and might be forced to . . . you know . . . say something not nice.

And, you know, you don't want to see me being not nice.

Love, Kate

PS--dear patient whom I admitted involuntarily: 6 am, as I am walking back to the call room to sleep for another hour or so, is really NOT the time to argue with me about whether I am going to let you out. No, really. I'm not kidding.

1 comment:

incidental findings said...

I don't mean to play devil's advocate, because I hate getting these calls too, but it's much better than being told while on rounds, "Are you going to do anything about the fact she can't see out her right eye?"

My policy is that I'll always prefer a useless call to not getting a call when I really wanted one.