Say a Little Prayer

31st March 2010 is a day that will live in infamy... at least for me.

It was one of the worst day at work. It started of bad when I was left all alone to be in charge of a full ward of 30 patients (not counting the parents and their grandparents!) Out of the 5 doctors that is supposed to be there... I was the only one left to man it. Nurses were pretty short in numbers to. To make matter worst, 3 out of 6 nurses were juniors. The only savior was that the seniors were the good ones.... Ila, Farra & Sister Anida. Thank God for our clerk Ayu ... she helped out wherever she can.

The morning rounds with my Consultants were not so bad. We managed to get all the days work planned out nicely. The rounds were smooth and clear. By near noon....as the sun reach its peak and the temperature outside rise.... the ward inside heated up too. All of us literally perspire despite the ward being air-conditioned. What I meant by heated up was that, we started getting influx of transferred patient from our ICU in an insane amount of numbers. Our HDU only have 5 beds, but ICU decided to transfer 8 patients. So my efficient nurses started moving beds and patients in a pace that would make a F1 driver proud. Melor ward looks like one of those war zone movie scene where the beds were in the middle aisle of every free lane in the ward. We had to make room for the ICU patients so that ICU can make space for the other patients that are going for surgery that day. If we don't make the space, then surgery would be cancel and a lot of people would be unhappy. My role?... to choose which patients stable enough to be transfer to the least monitored beds. I am responsible in compromising certain care to certain patients. A ridiculous role. I had to make an extra effort in checking up on them now and then to make sure they are ok. I was on my feet the whole day. Obviously my feet hurt.

By the end of the long day, we managed to make the best of this horrible situation. Most patients were where they can best be cared for. We even managed to admit new patients. They were good and safe but the ward was in shambles with notes everywhere. It was difficult to find anything but then thank God for Ayu who made it easier. I am also grateful for the nurses. They did their best and it proved to me that I can count on them for any chaotic situations.

When I left at 8.30 pm, I prayed for my patients to be safe..... but the next day I found out there were 2 unfortunate events that night. One had to be transferred back to ICU and the other one missed a crucial X ray. Thank God it was just a minor incidents and there were no fatalities.I guess my prayer were answered partially.

Lesson of that day..... despite all your best effort in any given bad situation, it doesn't hurt to pray. So say a little prayer now and then because God do listen.