Respiratory Therapy 101 Just Keep BreathingRespiratory Therapy 101 Just Keep BreathingRespiratory Therapy 101 is a blog about my life in the world of medicine. I am a respiratory therapist, and my job is to make sure that people keep breathing. It is an important job because if they are not breathing, they are not doing anything else. Articles
A day on the floors
2008-02-04 06:35:00 Yesterday was a jolly day at the hospital. I was relegated to the floors, which at this hospital is a very different experience from working in the ICU. The biggest difference is the thought pattern required to work the floors versus that required to work the ICU. When I am in the ICU, I tend ... More About: Floors
Hypothetically speaking
2008-02-02 05:10:00 Here’s an interesting situation that I ran into today. I was in the ER treating a child with a persistent cough (who would doubtless be cured by my nebulizer) and chatting with the mother. The mother was a thirtysomething lady, with a weathered appearance, slightly unkempt, bad teeth, slight odor of cat pee about her. ... More About: Speaking
I?m Lazy
2008-02-01 02:53:00 I’m lazy tonight but I feel entitled to be lazy. I worked like a dog today and yesterday, and today we had an airway disaster involving a pulmonologist, two anesthesiologists, three and a half RTs, and who knows how many other people. Ultimately we had to nasally intubate with a 7.0 ETT and a bronchoscope. So ... More About: Lazy
Bring on the COWS
2008-01-30 04:42:00 I am excited for the new computer system at work. You see, we’re implementing a whole new billing and charting system in the RT department. I suspect that over time it will improve the consistency of our documentation, the adequacy of our care (arguable), and our charge capture. But the big reason I’m excited boils ... More About: Cows
That?s Not Funny
2008-01-29 05:00:00 A nurse and I were talking about a patient today. The patient is a young woman who was recently paralyzed. She has only just begun to understand that it’s not “paralyzed for now,” it’s “paralyzed for the rest of your life.” The horror and the enormity of being permanently paralyzed from the neck down has ... More About: Funny
Sick
2008-01-25 05:52:00 I picked something up from somebody at work and now I’m sick. It began in my sinuses and now it’s decided to move in and get cozy in my bronchial tubes. Lovely. I’ve been hacking and coughing and blowing snot out for the last few days, and though I thought it had peaked a few ... More About: Sick
Rule Three
2008-01-23 02:09:00 This is part three in the ongoing series of articles about the Rule s of the House of God. Parts one and two can be found by clicking the links on this page. Rule Three is short and sweet: At a cardiac arrest, the first procedure is to check your own pulse. Although House of God was written to ... More About: Emergency Room
Can?t save ?em all: now for pastors, too!
2008-01-19 05:55:00 (This is an unusually theological post. I’m no seminarian but I’m pretty sure that I’m right about this. Read on.) One of the most important lessons to learn in the practice of modern medicine is that no matter how hard we try, we can’t possibly save everybody. Indeed, over a long enough timeframe we can’t save ... More About: Save , Pastors
An RT Forum
2008-01-18 21:10:00 I just got word via a comment on the About page that there’s a new RT forum out there on the web. Respiratory Care Forum is a new place for RTs to go and have professional chatter about RT things like ET tubes and research and the hardcore clinical sciencey things that this blog tends ...
Untitled
2008-01-18 04:40:00 A scene from the ICU today: “Hey, what happened? I thought that the kid in 8 was supposed to go to a long-term place.” “He was going to but then they found out that his brain is growing mold. I guess some Aspergillous got in underneath the plate in his skull and now he’s full of some ...
An ethical issue
2008-01-17 05:09:00 Here’s something that has been on my mind lately. So. Let’s assume that there is a patient who, in all probability, is infected with HIV. Let’s say he is a happily married middle-aged man. The suspicion of HIV arises when the patient presents with some atypical infectious organisms and a history of sexually transmitted infection. The ... More About: Issue
No Rule Three Tonight
2008-01-17 04:31:00 Sorry folks, the previously mentioned rule three won’t be making an appearance tonight. Soon, I say! But not tonight. More About: Tonight , Rule
Preview!
2008-01-15 19:47:00 Soon to come: the third part in my long-neglected series on the Rules of the House of God. Tonight (or maybe tomorrow): Rule Three! More About: Preview
A Boating Tale
2008-01-15 04:44:00 I was reminded of my story by the tale of Grampa Goes Fishing For The Last Time over at EMS Haiku. It was back in the early days of my RT career when I was still working up in the Great North Woods. I had gotten bored with night shift and felt like I needed a ... More About: Boating , Tale
Note to self: keep mouth closed in ER
2008-01-13 04:49:00 Normally I am a very quiet person. My normal persona could probably be described as mild-mannered, but sometimes…such as for example when I am working in the ER (Scumble County’s best and the State’s busiest) and under a great deal of duress…I can get a bit snappy. Today I was working in the Pedi ER. I ... More About: Doctors , Note , Mouth , Note to Self , Closed
I am SO going to hear about this
2008-01-12 04:20:00 It had been a long day in the ER. The clock had ticked past six just moments before, and it was with an air of relief that I sat down on the stolen doctor’s wheely stool in the office. It had been busy: running around intubating people, doing blood gases, BiPAPing little old ladies and ... More About: Doctors , Hear
A tough job indeed
2008-01-11 04:16:00 The old lady lay gasping for air on the bed. I clicked the laryngoscope blade, a #3 mac, into the handle and checked the light as The Brazilian Intensivist (B.I.) worked his way to the head of the bed. “Help…me!…not enough…air!” The old lady continued her gasping and panting, the effort of her respirations shaking her ... More About: Doctors , Tough
Good Reading
2008-01-09 14:45:00 I’ve been off for a few days and so the blogging has been slow. But over at EP monthly is an excellent article which not only explains the gigantic IRS/Congressional conspiracy that has broken the system, but which also includes an alarming number of chickens: I went home and finally got to sleep but dreamed fitfully ... More About: Reading , Good
A little off-topic
2008-01-06 19:20:00 Man, this whole mess about the Georgia Hiker who went missing and apparently was murdered by a grizzled mountaineer is sad. A young girl goes out for a nice walk in the hills and gets murdered by a crazy old coot. Speaking as a hiker, it’s sad to me that there are people sharing the ... More About: Topic
Social Justice?
2008-01-05 22:30:00 Panda Bear MD has summed up my feelings on social justice and socialized medicine in one lovely paragraph: But that?s the problem with Social Justice , especially as it is used to justify giving everyone free health care. It makes the assumption that everyone is a victim and doesn?t allow for the possibility of the freeloader ... More About: Doctors , Social Justice
Unwell
2008-01-05 03:36:00 I had an interesting patient yesterday. It began in the morning when I got an admission from the ER, a 23-year-old kid who presented with serious shortness of breath and got intubated. But that’s not all. His X-rays demonstrated the classic signs of Pneumocystis Carinii pneumonia. For those of you not in the know, Pneumocystis pneumonias ...
Fingered
2008-01-02 03:31:00 It was an exciting new year’s day in the Medical ICU today. Normally, the Medical ICU is a sort of weird place: it is full of chronic patients in various stages of maturation and aging, much like the Wine Cellar from Hell; you have your more recent vintages like the fruity yet tannic 29-year-old diabetic ...
Happy New Year Everyone!
2008-01-02 03:15:00 Happy New Year , dear readers! I sincerely hope that 2008 will be a jolly year for everybody, full of good things and as little horror as possible. I celebrated with the wife by having some sparkling cider, since I had to work today and didn’t want to be one of those hung-over healthcare types. Anyway, ... More About: Happy , Happy New Year
He?s not dead!
2007-12-30 18:34:00 First and foremost: over at the Respiratory Therapy Cave there is an overview of 2007, the year of the RT weblogs! Go ahead over and check it out. Now on to the content of the day. I was babysitting another RT’s ICU yesterday while she was in CT scan with a patient. I was planted behind a ... More About: Dead
Nominated
2007-12-27 06:28:00 I’ve been nominated over at MedGadget under the “Best New Medical Weblog (established in 2007)” category! This is quite exciting, as when I began this blog I never expected to even find an audience. In light of the fact that I have indeed found an audience I’d just like to say “thanks” to everybody who ... More About: Nominated
Break
2007-12-23 17:39:00 I’ll be on a little holiday-related break for the next few days, but expect the resumption of the normal madness around the end of the month. Once I get back to work I’m sure I’ll have tons of holiday-related stories to tell you all! Meanwhile I’m off to visit the family. Merry Christmas everyone! ... More About: Break
An excellent point
2007-12-21 05:58:00 Dilbert pulls through again. I often want to ask people what Alice asks the PHB in this strip but I usually manage to bite my tongue. Dilbert is reproduced here without any permission at all. More About: Point , Excellent
Poor pattern recognition
2007-12-19 02:59:00 Go and read this over at ImpactED nurse. Go on, go and read it and then come back. What bothers me about this isn’t that he drove nails into his head to drive away evil spirits. Indeed,much of the literature recommends driving nails into the head to cure Evil Spirititis. Making new openings to allow the ... More About: Pattern , Recognition , Poor , Pattern Recognition
Panacea!
More articles from this author:2007-12-18 02:37:00 Sorry for the lack of content here lately. I’ve had a few days off and some family is in town for a visit, and last time I worked all of my patients were boring or crazy. I had one crazy woman who was out of it and believed me to be trying to kill her. ... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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