Never too late?

I feel like if I don't post now, I never will--because there's so much to tell!!
In my last Critical Care rotation (the last one I wrote about) I got to insert and IV and do other nursely things. It was cool.

Then I went to my last 3 week rotation on the Psych floor. It was pretty neat. Basically, patients check themselves in to get re-medicated or to have their prescriptions altered a tad. Sometimes something will happen in their lives that sends them over the edge so they'll check themselves in. At the hospital, there's group activities all day to participate in. There's a recreational therapy group, where they play games and team-building activities; there's art therapy; and there's a couple group sessions with the therapist. It's pretty neat to sit in on group sessions because the patients help each other out so much. We didn't really get to do a whole lot on the psych floor; mainly observe and have a couple short conversations with patients.

This week I was in the Emergency Room! The first day I was there it was pretty slow...nothing too exciting. The second day I got to see some traumas, and one from the very beginning admission. The guy couldn't breathe because he had pericardial effusion, where fluid leaks out and builds up around the heart, causing it to not be able to squeeze efficiently. So they intubated him, got him hooked up to all the machines (where they made their discovery), and stuck a needle into the sack covering the heart to get the fluid out. It was cool because I've read about it in our books, but it's a rare thing to be able to see. Even after that his heart was having some problems and they had to cardiovert him.

Other than that I saw a lady with the flu, a guy with a super swollen eye for no apparent reason (nice, nice guy), girl with an abcess (sick but cool), alot of 'drug seekers' and a few failed suicides. Drug seekers are interesting. They come in complaining of pain, but they end of being 'allergic' to everything except for the drug they want. One guy had been in 7 times in March alone. The doctor walked in knowing the history and said, "So how much cocaine have you had today?"

I liked the ER alot better than I thought it would. It's kind of neat to have quick rotation of patients, close and frequent communication with the doctors, and great variety of presenting problems.