Boring Shift = IVs!

During our shift the other night, only one woman came into the clinic, and she had to be transported to the hospital less than an hour after arriving. So, the rest of the shift was quiet and slightly boring, but we managed to make it interesting by practicing IVs. The following story and pictures are taken from Tiffany's blog . (She's one of the students who has been here for a year already, and in the pictures she is the one wearing the pink scrubs.)

With six babies over the past 6 shifts, I was ready for our dead swing shift on Friday. I was working with Carmen, Holly and Jordan, along with Ate Steph, who spent most of the afternoon hanging out with the other Filipinas upstairs. This left the four of us to entertain ourselves...

...Ate Steph was completing another baby check of mine. The mother showed us her sons mouth, and we realized that the back of his throat was not completely patent (open). It's like he was swallowing from a straw. No wonder she said he was vomiting a lot, and having a hard time breathing. So sad. So we wrote a referral, and she went straight to the hospital. When Carmen and Jordan were on a transport later in the evening, they saw her, and her son was already admitted. She told Carmen that the doctors would do surgery as soon as he was strong enough, so that made me happy. I'm also going to go visit her soon too, and keep in contact. I'm just so glad she realized it...I guess mom's have that instinct and know their babies! Good thing. :)

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful, after Carmen's transport at least. The woman came in with a blood pressure of 130/90, and it steadily climbed to 160/120 over the next 40 or so minutes. Yikes. By the time she got to the hospital she was fully dilated, and Carmen thought she was going to catch the baby in the ER. Thankfully, she was able to breath and resisted the urge to push.

After Carmen and Jordan came back from the hospital, the four of us just sat on the couches talking. I asked Carmen if I could try an IV on her, and she was willing! Sweet. So I pulled out my equipment, and quickly failed. It squirted blood everyone, and I screamed, causing the new students to laugh and I'm sure they thought I was a lunatic. Then Carmen inserted a smaller needle into my foot, which we later found out increase the risk of an air embolism. I was quite thankful to wake up this morning :)



Then I asked Jordan if I could try one on her, and she surprising said 'Yes'.



She's a quick fainter, so we were all surprised.



Needless to say, I failed again, and after I pulled it out, she proceeded to pass out about a minute later. Only, it was freaky, because she didn't just pass out...she seized! Her body went completely stiff, and we thought she was having a seizure. She pulled out of it about a minute later, and remembered nothing, of course. It was quite the experience. I was shaking after, but we were all able to laugh. Poor Jordan...she felt so bad! I should be the one feeling bad...I poked her! Oh well..now we all know for next time!

Now, I did not think I would pass out this time, otherwise, I would not have let Tiffany stick me with that needle. However, I was wrong. On the bright side, no one wants to practice IVs on me anymore...they're all too scared. :)