The first time I was there, it was a slow night. I was there for 2 hours and I only saw 2 patients, along with watching triage for a while. I saw a 5th digit dislocation and fracture. She got X-rays done and then later had a digital block. The nurses also splinted her. This patient also had tachycardia. The nurses took her BP 3 times. First was 232/135, second was 222/118 and they gave her some medication to try to reduce the heart rate, the third was 210/118. I thought this was strange because this lady looked perfectly fine.
The second patient I saw was a young girl with a greenstick fracture. The nurses splinted her and let her go.
The second time I went was a very busy night. I was there for 3 hours and saw lots of patients. Again I started in triage and watched some patients come in. The PA also let us look at some X-rays. He played a game with where I had to say what was wrong with the picture, if there was a problem. Then I followed a nurse around, which is when it got really crazy. I saw a lady who was having breathing problem so bad her face was cyanotic; I saw a lady come in complaint of 10/10 abdominal pain, but she had a hysterectomy; I saw an intensely drunk man who fell of his bicycle; I saw a young girl with a spider bite spreading up her leg; I saw a child with pneumonia, and I help restrict her movement while we forced fed her medicine; I saw a baby with a suspected concussion; and finally I helped fit crutches for a girl with an ankle sprain. I didn’t see the conclusion for any of those patients, but it was still really cool to see that much in one night.
The final night I was there for 3 hours again. I was in triage for most of the night. Most of the patients coming in were having strep throat and flu symptoms. It was a pretty slow night. I stayed in triage until a lady who fell and was having ankle problems came in. I followed her for the rest of the night, and talked to her a bit. I was asking her some questions just so I could guess what might be wrong with her ankle. It was severely swollen, but by the mechanism I didn’t think it was fractured. I told the patient about all of the things AT would do instead of how they do it at the hospital. The nurse did an x-ray eventually. Then this lady sat there in intense pain for an hour. We both thought they had forgotten about her. It was about time for me to go, so I went to find her X-rays just so I would know if I was right or not. She didn’t have a fracture and the doctor said she probably just had some type of sprain. I wish I could have done some special test to figure out everything. Even though I was a slow night, it was still pretty cool.
Overall I enjoyed my emergency care observations. It’s interesting to see what happens when a patient gets to the ER. I wish I could have seen more things I was familiar with, but even if I didn’t know a lot about something, the nurses and PA’s were nice enough to explain it while we were running in between rooms.
The second patient I saw was a young girl with a greenstick fracture. The nurses splinted her and let her go.
The second time I went was a very busy night. I was there for 3 hours and saw lots of patients. Again I started in triage and watched some patients come in. The PA also let us look at some X-rays. He played a game with where I had to say what was wrong with the picture, if there was a problem. Then I followed a nurse around, which is when it got really crazy. I saw a lady who was having breathing problem so bad her face was cyanotic; I saw a lady come in complaint of 10/10 abdominal pain, but she had a hysterectomy; I saw an intensely drunk man who fell of his bicycle; I saw a young girl with a spider bite spreading up her leg; I saw a child with pneumonia, and I help restrict her movement while we forced fed her medicine; I saw a baby with a suspected concussion; and finally I helped fit crutches for a girl with an ankle sprain. I didn’t see the conclusion for any of those patients, but it was still really cool to see that much in one night.
The final night I was there for 3 hours again. I was in triage for most of the night. Most of the patients coming in were having strep throat and flu symptoms. It was a pretty slow night. I stayed in triage until a lady who fell and was having ankle problems came in. I followed her for the rest of the night, and talked to her a bit. I was asking her some questions just so I could guess what might be wrong with her ankle. It was severely swollen, but by the mechanism I didn’t think it was fractured. I told the patient about all of the things AT would do instead of how they do it at the hospital. The nurse did an x-ray eventually. Then this lady sat there in intense pain for an hour. We both thought they had forgotten about her. It was about time for me to go, so I went to find her X-rays just so I would know if I was right or not. She didn’t have a fracture and the doctor said she probably just had some type of sprain. I wish I could have done some special test to figure out everything. Even though I was a slow night, it was still pretty cool.
Overall I enjoyed my emergency care observations. It’s interesting to see what happens when a patient gets to the ER. I wish I could have seen more things I was familiar with, but even if I didn’t know a lot about something, the nurses and PA’s were nice enough to explain it while we were running in between rooms.