ICU Rotation

I'm currently on a rotation in the medical ICU and I've finished my first week. My attending physician was amazing, he's TOTALLY A.D.D. (making rounds last from 830-5 or 530 with 10 minutes for lunch), but he's brilliant...spouts results from a new england article from 1997 like he spouts off what he ate last night for dinner. Among the HD cath insertions, extubations and bedside trachs I got to observe, I've also seen people die. Some are old, some are young. Death sucks. So, outside from learning about medicine and medical procedures, I've learned some other things

1. Make sure your loved ones know your wishes about how you do and do not want to live. It makes it a lot easier on them if the worst were to happen.
2. Make sure your loved ones know you want to be an organ donor
3. You want to be an organ donor, it can make a really crappy situation into a less crappy situation.

Conversation of the Day

MD: When do we need to check vancomycin troughs?
Me: 30 minutes before the 4th or 5th dose

MD: Can you write for the level to be drawn for my patient in room X? They're being discharged today to the rehab facility
Me: Of course, how many doses of vanc have they had?

MD: I'm not sure
Me: OK, I'll see where they are in their therapy and write for the trough

MD: Thank you
Me: No problem.

The patient received one dose of vanc in the ED 2 days ago
Estimated trough: undetectable
Time wasted: 45 minutes