High Dependency Unit or Over Dependency Unit?

Finally, my weekend on call is over! Had enough of RUBBISH this weekend! BAH!

My bleep, as usual, goes off every 10 minutes, and more than 50% came from the High Dependency Unit. They've bleeped me much until I think even if I have serious short term memory, I will NEVER forget their extension number. They not only drove me insane today, but also my Registrar and the medical on call team.

Sorry to say this, but I can no longer tolerate them there. I know that patients there are ill and require more nursing care, hence the term "HIGH dependency unit", but I'm seriously wondering if that has changed into an OVER dependency unit. I cannot imagine how much more nursing care can anyone on earth be given....the attention given to the patients there are even MORE intense than in the INTENSIVE care unit in the hospital where patients are EVEN more ill.

It shocked the hell out of me when I see FOUR nurses being there to take care of a miserable number of 6 patients. That's like 1 nurse to 1 patient. Accounts to why they're so "chi bao mei shi zuo" but to make phone calls all the time to irritate us.

Fair enough if it's clearly something urgent, and being in a HDU nurse, every doctor would expect them to have the BASIC sense of what is REALLY requiring attention and what isn't. Nurses there can't take blood, can't do venflons, can't do anything! Makes me wonder what's the difference between a normal ward nurse and a HDU nurse.

Got a patient admitted there with severe pancreatitis who so unfortunately went into atrial fibrillation after a central line was put into the neck to allow feeding (if he doesn't get fed through the neck...he's basically gonna die of malnutrition). But this patient doesn't have any symptoms, and all his blood pressure and everything is fine. Apparently, this atrial fibrillation doesn't stay 24 hours and reverts back to normal after a while, so when it occurred again today, the nurses bleeped me. I spoke to the Medical team about this, and they kindly came to review the patient and put him on Digoxin which is a drug for atrial fibrillation. Everyone knows that medications don't work instantly and all drugs take time to work. The heart rate came down from 200 to 160 and the nurses bleeped me again, complaining that the rate is still high. It did piss me off because they had bleeped the medics about this, and they have told the nutcases that the medication takes about 4 hours to work, but they still won't pleased, so they bleeped me. I asked them when the medication has been administered, and they told me it's an hour ago. I told them that medications take time to work, and told them the same thing that the medical team told them, BUT STILL THEY WEREN'T PLEASED and decided to bleep my Registrar to ask her, who told them (for the 3rd time) that MEDICATIONS TAKE TIME TO WORK. And I heard they still weren't satisfied, so after ending the call with my Registrar, they went to call the medical team again, who for the 4th time, had to repeat themselves. *rolls eyes*

Then bleeps went off again from the same damn unit about blood results of that same patient to tell me that the white cell counts are high (this patient's got pancreatitis!!!!!!!) and they're concerned. WTF! The white cell count HAS BEEN HIGH SINCE DAY 1, and I have completely no idea what's so surprising about the high white cell count when I already know that there is inflammation going on. U don't need to be a brilliant health professional to know that white cell counts go high in an infection/inflammation!

Then bleeps went off again not long later abt magnesium being low on a patient. I would be extremely concern if it's drastically low, but the nurses started getting all panicky when the magnesium was 0.64 when normal is 0.65. Have completely no idea what's all the panic about.

Seriously, I think that unit is OBSESSED to the point that they either don't use their brains anymore, or they are refusing to use it.

There are only 2 ways to end this insanity and obsession there:

1. Get some doctor to sit there and go no where else to entertain their rubbish 24/7

2. Cut down the number of nurses in that ward


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Sigh...got a message from Dearie saying that the LV small purse he wanted to surprise me with for V day is sold out, and he's pissed off about it because each time he wants to buy something for me to spring a surprise on me, this happens.

I trust his sincerity in buying me a V day gift, and it's sheer bad luck that this happened. No doubt I'm quite disappointed because I adore that purse very very much and it's something I will definitely use since I have this funny habit of not being willing to carry my wallet unless I carry a handbag (and I would choose not to carry handbags if given a choice, be it in the UK or Singapore). I am so lazy to the extent till I'll stuff dollar notes, coins and 2 cards at most...ALL into my pocket (told u I'm not suited to be a female in the first place). This LV purse will allow me to dump all these "pocket" bits into it, and I might even be able to stuff a key or 2 into it too!
Reason for disappointment isn't because I am not going to get an expensive gift from Dearie. In fact, I've gotten so used to Dearie not celebrating anything with me to the point whereby I'll ponder for a few moments if he's got a screw loose if he mentions wanting to buy me a present or having some celebration with me for wateva reason.

Oh well....shall see when the stock comes in..and perhaps (yah..perhaps!) I might use my own $$$ to buy it for myself. I haven't bought myself anything for getting a job, birthday and CNY. Sometimes I think I deserve a present.