Back from Hell
Newborn Hell.No Fun.
I spent the whole month in my newborn nursery rotation.
It's not fun when during your first call night, you get paged to the stand so you run to the labor and delivery room to catch your baby. but you find out that your badge doesn't open the doors. To add insult to injury, your meal card has no money in it, and you got no access to the electronic medical records. bummer.
It's not fun waking up at 5.30am to start rounding on at least 50 babies every single day and getting called to the stand when you still have a million things to do.
It's not fun getting shouted at by nurses just because you're new and don't know how they run things there.
It's not fun when your senior resident and co-interns, all US grads, think you're incompetent.
It's not fun when your senior resident makes faces and mouths words to your co-intern about you. (if she was pretty, maybe it'd be more bearable, but making faces with a face like that? just kill me and i'd be happier.)
It's not fun when the nurses try to challenge your knowledge.
It's not fun when even the med students don't trust you.
It's not fun when you're treated as an outsider. Soo not fun.
It's not fun when during your weekend call you do bili clinic and discharges and transition by yourself. and you just want to cry. and you find out that you got screwed because somebody should have been there working with you but didn't show up.
i thought carrying a pager was cool. now i just want to flush mine, plus the stand pager, down the toilet.
Really, had a friend given me a hug, i would have cried. (buti na lang wala akong friend friend dito)
***
But it gets better.
It's rewarding when your faculty says that you're doing great. (And when your senior remarks that you are doing great, you just answer,"you're just saying that." and you it's your turn to give her the smirk.)
It is rewarding when your faculty has gotten feedback that the nurses enjoy working with you. Two of them actually call you their boyfriend.
It is heartwarming that the charge nurse would write your orders for you and line up your charts for you to sign. You can bet she doesn't do that for any other resident. Then you know that you have been accepted into their circle. (I never saw the one who shouted at me tho. maybe she rammed her car into a tree or something.)
It's touching when your transition nurses buy you a soda because they know that you didn't have time to go down to the cafeteria to get dinner.
It's refreshing to go to the clerk's office and see her hair change from a fro to braids and to a hundred other hairstyles, and get a good laugh with her funny antics.
It's reassuring to have the ISCU transport nurse who is nice to you be by your side everytime you are called to the stand, call you sweetheart and give you a piece of her cinnamon cake when you're too busy to get lunch.
It is reassuring when your faculty tells you that you will get a good evaluation.
***
somehow, everything turned out ok. it could have been the worst rotation, but hey, it's not all that bad. If there's something i'll be missing, it'll be the nurses. But i keep telling them it's gonna be the other way around.
Thank God. I survived.
posted by duke at 12:12 PM
29 Comments:
what can i say? you're a survivor! ang galing galing naman ni don duque! i'm so proud of you!
nurses giving interns a hard time is just the weeding out process. we`re trying to weed out the jackasses and the ones that really know their stuff. just stick it out. when they figure out that you`ve got it in you, then you`ll get accepted in the circle and trust me, you`ll love it. you know u`ve got it. congrats on surviving.
btw, that`s not cool when ur resident makes faces n mouths words about you. jerk.
^haze
oops. sorry, just had a long shift.
the good, the bad, and the ugly.
buti na lang pretty ako. may go signal mang-olay. hahaha. jowk.
i'm glad things got better, doc. :)
glad you're okay. welcome back. hug pa rin ulit. :)
here's another hug...
pero good to see you back. at favorite pa ng mga nurse ha. hearthrob? heheheh ;p
Ooops, sorry for the bad time you had but wow, congratulations for surviving! My father did his postgrad in New York (he was an EENT specialist) and he told me many stories about how his colleagues - and even the nurses and the orderlies - "looked down" on him because of the color of his skin. He spent 3 years there. It was hard work but by the time he came home, they were all his friends and they kept in touch with him for so many years.
wow don! akala ko sa Pinas lang ganyan, pati ba naman dyan?
anyhow, i'm glad things are getting better for you.
*hugs*
greetings from cebu city! wow. bawing-bawi ang post ng duktor! by the way:
It's not fun missing you...
It's refreshing to know that you're back...
It's touching to know that just like any other human being, you struggle to be a better person...
(NAKS!) Tighter hugs to you, my friend...
remain steadfast. keep the faith, dr. d. And if they do compliment you, even if you feel they're half-heartedly said, just say "thank you."
for all it's worth, i am one of your fans. so just keep your head high at galingan mo parati!
ayos!
ayos doc, keep up the good work! :)
it will get better and worse at the same time. to much is given, much would be expected as well.
doc, akin na lang yung pager mo. or better yet, gawin mo na lang door stopper.
OT
jerome, are you still in cebu...?
wooo-hooo!!! maiiyak na sana ko sa unang post mo doc, buti na lang me second part!
glad everything's doing okay now. pero ganun pa man, you still deserve a hug! pa-hug ka jan sa mga nurses! hehe =)
Godblessya, doc! galingan mo pa lalo.
Oh man, that was a tough rotation. Parang boot camp. But I'm glad to know that you survived. Hope that's the worst of it... :-)
galing doc duke! >:D<
tani. survivor ba. nye, wala naman choice e.
^haze. i'm guessing you're a nurse. re the weeding out process, i beg to disagree with that. i refuse to accept that just anybody can weed me out. I fought for my place here, i won't give it up just like that. nobody has the right to be mean to anybody. i don't need to prove myself to anyone. i know my capabilities and i know my limitations. if i need help, i don't hesitate to ask. i don't see why people have to be unkind. it is not my goal to get accepted into anybody's circle. it's enough that we have a lot of responsibilities on our hands. having to try to get to the good side of others adds to the burden. why can't we all act in a professional manner? Respect shoudn't be earned, it should be given. .
i feel so strongly about this. it's one reason why i refused to train in the Philippines. If you encounter an intern, do him a favor, please be nice. he might be having a hard time, and he would appriciate any kind gestures from the nurses. Please don't treat him as an outsider because it doesn't help him at all. have mercy.
and yes, making faces isn't a good thing to do.
raindrops. buti na lang pretty ka. sige mang olay ka. (at ano ba ang ibig sabihin ng olay na yan? parang yung pinapabili ng nanay kong oil of olay yan ah)
atticus. thank you. i've no choice but to go on. doesn't mean the experience didn't leave any scars tho.
tin-tin. yea, towards the last two weeks they were really nice towards me. that made my life more bearable.
bugsybee. lam mo, kahit di nila sinasabi, meron talagang may ayaw sa hindi puti. at nararamdaman mo yun. sarap sana pagsasapakin. di ko alam kung bakit tingin nila sa sarili nila ay mga superior, pero kung tignan mo naman mejo mas may lamang ka naman sa kanila. pero feeling feeling pa din sila sobra. ewan ko. may toyo ibang tao dito.
rv. oo no! mas malala nga dito eh. kse kung sa pinas yan eh di sinagot sagot ko na sila. kaso inggles dito eh, mejo uutal utal ako para lang labanan yung mga pinagsasabi nila. haysus. duduguin muna ako bago ako makasumbat. at pag naisip ko na yung isusumbat ko eh nasa ibang topic na sila.
jerome bridget kung ano man pangalan mo talaga. thank you. doesn't everyone try to be a better person?
hay candice. it's just so frustrating. but i'm adjusting. thanks for the calls. i'm trying my best. but i get tired also.
rudy man. salamat, tae.
guwapo na baktin. paolet? de ku naentendihan yun? to much is given, much would be expected as well...pero sige na nga, mejo nagegets ko kung anu ibig mu sabihin. at yung pager, eto, kunin mo na! iyong iyo na! ayoko na marinig ang kanyang tunog!
mei, salamat. ako din muntik na din ako maiyak. hehehe. pagdasal mo ako.
singlguy. yea, it was a tough one. prolly the toughest one i'll hafta go through during my first year. i'm just glad it's over.
sam. di nga e. hehehe. pogi lang.
dr. duke. i`m not yet a nurse. i did however externed at new-york presbyterian this summer and i`ve seen first hand how nurses and interns, residents and attendings interact with each other. i personally was never mean to anybody. i went there and fought for my place in one of the most prestigious hospitals in the US, just like the interns there. however, there are some interns and residents whose heads were a little too big for their own good. just because they have MDs at the end of their names, they demanded respect. it doesnt work like that, in hospitals or anywhere. so what if you went to school for 4 more years than me? that doesnt mean that you are better than i am, despite the fact that im a nurse. there is no difference, trust me. its a matter of helping each other. i am not the hired help, im a fellow professional. you may be different from the interns i mentioned, and kudos to you. please do not take offense to what i said, but you have to realize that not everybody is like you.
still a fan of your writing.
-haze
everything has its pros and cons. and things are bound to get better.
we hope.
I see your passion. You're going to make a wonderful doctor... I just know it.
I'll say it again... your post really reminds me of "Scrubs." In fact, I don't know what you look like, I can imagine you in your scrubs while nurses steal glances at you. :)
Duke,
i hate nurses who:
- feel it is their job to weed out good interns from the bad ones, that is the work of your hospital/department's training committee, talk about being a professional
- have superiority complex over interns/doctors just because they have went to the hospital first hence have more experience (remember this: nauna lang sila, yun lang)
- are unkind to other hospital employees/doctors just because they dont like them, and then go on blabbering about themselves being professionals, BIG DUH!
thank you
bow
Anonymous said...
Duke,
i hate nurses who:
- feel it is their job to weed out good interns from the bad ones, that is the work of your hospital/department's training committee, talk about being a professional
- have superiority complex over interns/doctors just because they went to the hospital first hence have more experience (remember this: nauna lang sila, yun lang)
- are unkind to other hospital employees/doctors just because they dont like them, and then go on blabbering about themselves being professionals, BIG DUH!
thank you
bow
duke,
wow really they gave u hard time ha? nako eh ang talino mo na.. eh pano pa kaya ako nurse na mag aapply.. sobrang aapihin na ako dyan.. wait for me.. ILL BURN THEM ALL FOR YOU HAHA. -_- BASTA wag ka papa api.. fyt fyt :P
diane
wow sana doctor na rin ako para may mga nurses ding tatawag sa akin na BF nila ako, hehehe :) kidding.
you have reasons pala to be ok kasi oks na oks yung evaluations sayo. congrats!
psst. may post ako na pics ko na feeling ko you need when you are lonely there in the yunayted isteyts...
haze. i still maintain my stand on professionalism and on how to deal with co-workwers in our field. that not liking a person doesn't give anybody the license to make life more difficult for him/her. and yes, i took offense. sometimes i wish i had robots for coworkers, that way i don't have to try to deal with each of them in a different way. and goodluck on your nursing endeavours. hope you still visit my blog.
jey, yeah, there's no way to go from here but up.
friedchicken. so, have you really shut down your blog? or are you floating somewhere in the blogosphere without telling us your location?
diday kampupot. yea, things are already better. far from hell. hehehe.
toe. they don't steal glances at me. i'm not that attractive. guwapo lang. that boyfriend thing is a joke so i get to attend to their concerns first. silly nurses. i miss them already.
anonymous. hahahaha. i hope you're not starting a war in here. i just want to maintain a low profile blog. and i think i know who you are. actually i know who you are. yea, it's the same everywhere.
huy dianne. pasado ka na! nars ka na! congrats!!!! hmmmm. di ba may scam yan? hehehe.
tommmy. huy cruise, baket ka nagibang anyo? heheh.
kolletzki. hello. welcome to my blog. sensya ka na, you came at a time na di masaya. hehehe. heniweys, right now, i'm done with exams, and grades and evaluations. tapos na ako dyan sa buhay ko. ayoko na nagpapaimpress para lang sa magandang eval.gusto ko na matuto lang. yun lang.
jerome_daclison. mejo natakot ako sa pics. hahahahahahah!
waw!! astig ang pagbabalik..!
ang ganda.. nakakatuwa..
and i love what you said to haze.. tinatlong ulit ko pa un basahin para lang maintindihan. hirap ng tanga sa ingles e.
pakis nga!
nga pala dok.. you're one heck of an inspiring person.!!
idol!
This comment has been removed by the author.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Now we have a better picture of what to expect when we return to the US for residency (hoping that we will match). Ha, we haven't even started med school, yet.
Keep up the great work and hope to read more of your blog posts :)
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