Santa is coming to town....

Again, I am doing my night shift this week. The first night it was quiet at the beginning so my registrar left early. I don't know what happenned after that, like a punishment from God, after midnight patients started to come in continously. I was like 'Why! oh! Why!, Get a life, people, go to bed!'Some of the patients didn't need to be there at all. For example, there was a young guy, why on earth he came in at 2 am, waited for hours in AE with 2 years history of unchanged presentation of haemorrhoids/piles. He needs to go to a school of common sense with his GP, who had been treating his piles, who also should have sent him to a surgical clinic rather than wasting his time coming to AE. They all expect for magics to happen in AE as easy as saying 'zoom zoom ala ka zoom, 1,2,3, it's done'. Not a hope. Not even during Christmas time. Ask Santa!

Talking about common sense, it also reminds me of another patient, a foreign national, who kicked and punched a window after finding out his beloved wife had been sleeping with his neighbour. He ended up with a cut on his hand and a broken foot. To make matters worse, it was an open fracture on his foot (broken skin with a broken bone underneath it) which meant he needed a surgery and a course of antibiotic as the wound is at high risk of infection. I thought my work with him ended at that stage...to be taken over by the orthopaedic team. NO! No! No!. That was not the case. I had to spend 10-15 minutes to persuade him to stay as he refused any treatment. Eventually he discharged himself against medical advice. He was more concerned about getting back to his home country next week. He may have lost his wife, and now beacause of his stubbornness, he might lose his foot. Where is the common sense? Would you blame his wife for sleeping with another guy?

Dealing with a difficult patient is one thing, with a difficult relative of a patient is another thing. Different approach, hoping for similar result, preservation of my own sanity. Both need patience, abundance of it. I didn't know I had it until I work in AE. Being patient and calm is vital in order to survive in this crazy environment.I had one relative of a patient 2 nights ago, who kept aproaching me every hour, asking for different things either for her husband or herself despite the fact that I was busy dealing with 3 different patients at the same time right in front her eyes. Among the many of AE staff, she somehow managed to grab my attention. Why me? Am I that good looking? I was like 'go away, your husband is not the only patient here'. But of course I didn't say that to her. She was the same woman, few hours earlier, threatened to sue a nurse after her husband fell from the hospital trolley. Poor nurse, it was not her fault at all. It just happened the nurse was first came to rescue her husband from choking of his own vomit after the fall. Due to this person's selfishness and being inconsiderate, the nurse was worried all night and couldn't concentrate on her work. There were many more patients for the nurse to see, and many more hours to go. Thanks, madam, for your wonderful gratitude!

I really hope santa is coming early this year. I know what I want to wish for. The return of common sense to humanity. If only he exists.......