Do It Yourselfer

I’m proud of the fact that I’m self sufficient in the emergency department. And it irritates the fire out of me to see prima donnas (read surgeons) come into the department and require the entire staff to follow them around to do little things they could do for themselves. I guess you could say that I was trained well by a charge nurse by the name of Beatrix where I did my residency. Miss Bea, as she called herself, or Miss Behemoth as the interns called her under their breath, was a heavy set matronly type with a ruddy complexion. Her upper arms had extra fat that sagged and waved when she pointed to something. Tough long out of style, she still wore her nursing school cap that said St. Francis over her hair that was tightly pinned and covered with a net. She once came out to the nurses’ station to confront me where I was writing a note after suturing up a wound. Having seen the litter of bloody gauze and needles I had left in the room after the procedure, she brought out a whole roll of plaster casting material, a bucket of water, and a sling and put it on the counter. Deep in thought, I didn’t notice her at first. But I soon heard her foot tapping and looked up to see her glaring at me. “What’s all this stuff for?” I asked. “Well, I saw the mess you left,” she said. “And I just assumed that both your arms were broken.” “Yes, ma’am,” I said instinctively, reaching back into my childhood of groveling. “I’ll clean it up, ma’am,” I said as I...
Source: EPMonthly.com - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news