Stu Goes Back to...ugh...Work

GOING BACK to w0rk ranks up there with being sick on vacation, getting a big honkin nose zit the day before prom pictures, and a dent in your new car. It was tough for me last night, and I have to relay the grossest of ER stories, worse than trauma: decubitis ulcer, stage 4. What appears to be a fist size hole in the patient's back is none other than what we weird persons of the medical field refer to as a decubitis. Sorry, but it is much worse in person than relaying it to you here at House Calls.

Also, there is a new computerized charting system that is almost paperless. Odd, after all these years of paper charting, we go full computer. The journey will be complete on the day that all our dinosaur docs put their own orders in the computer! Presently, some of them balk at the idea, stating they didn't go to secretary school they went to medical school! Oh yeah, I'm talking MD's here.

Third, a good friend of mine, RN at ER for 10 years, decided yesterday, in the middle of the shift, to quit. Don't know any details now, but hope to learn why soon. So that was sort of the straw that broke the camel's back, proverbially speaking. I was ready to go home at midnight, but alas, dragged out my 12-hour shift and made it home.

First day back at work after nearly 14 off. I was able to share some fond memories of San Francisco with my cohorts, which made part of the night pass quickly. Hope tonight goes smoother.