Two days left on my first month of inpatient medicine wards! Of the eight medicine teams, I’m on the one “day admitting” (aka, up to 8 new patients) on the very last day of this rotation… Halloween, nonetheless. What luck! 🙁 Here’s hoping I don’t look ridiculously exhausted during orientation on November 1st. 😛
Now that I’ve become more comfortable with the flow of seeing patients, writing notes, placing consults/orders, troubleshooting problems, and rounding, I think one of the most important goals has been trying to have my notes, orders, and consultations submitted before 10 AM each day. This has been ambitious and often failed based on the number of patients on the census; however, I’ve found that it significantly streamlines activities for the afternoon and patient rounds.
Another facet of modern healthcare which I’ve often dismissed has been preventative care, an act demonstrated daily by my attending. He encourages all of us to walk our patients whenever possible (to offset the deconditioning inherent to prolonged hospitalizations), writes for vaccinations, etc. These factors become increasingly important for patients after they’ve been in the hospital setting for weeks/months. In the long run, effective preventative medicine can also save the system countless dollars and work hours.
Anyways, time to head to work! Happy All Hallows’ Eve… Eve! 🙂
