Back at it...

Welcome back! 

If you are coming back you will have read the first blog post which explained a bit more about me. This week I thought I would describe more about the working week. I want to be able to jump in and talk about different conditions, how the day actually affected me, but I feel some more context behind how the ward and the clinic run would be helpful. So next will be more in depth about specific things, but for now let’s run through how things work.  

The ward I work on starts at 7.45am and finishes at 8.15pm. Our nursing ratios are actually better than most other areas, we have 1:7, which if you work in healthcare you will know is very good. My shift on the ward was at the weekend which is always a very different energy, there are generally a lot less staff around and significantly more visitors. I have to say I did have a little bit of anxiety coming to work, I have been off the ward for two weeks and coming back on a weekend to be in charge is always a bit of a challenge. The main reason I find it challenging is because you do not know any of the patients, which generally is fine but when you are in charge there is an expectation that you know everyone in detail. Especially as there are far fewer people around so in an emergency you will be expected to lead and know the patients in detail. So, because of this, I got to work a little early just to make myself feel more comfortable. I know lots of other people I work with do not feel like they need to, but I am naturally a bit of a control freak so I find it more important to feel prepared. 

In complete contrast to that is my job in the clinic. Pleural clinic will see a variety of patients, people with pneumothorax, pleural effusion, empyema and often following up patients that have been on the ward with one of these conditions a few weeks later to ensure things have resolved. The clinic is a consultant led clinic with two nurses working with them. Each appointment is an hour, this gives us enough time to do an intervention if needed, a chest drain. Weirdly, this week was the first week we saw seven patients and none of them needed an intervention. Most were follow ups who needed a repeat chest x-ray review and needed an ultrasound of their chest to ensure things had resolved. The patient’s we saw this week included: pneumothorax, hepatic hydrothorax, reactive bilateral pleural effusion, effusion post CABG, effusion post lobectomy and empyema. Now, depending on why you are here for this blog I am assuming a lot of those words are likely to mean nothing to you. I will leave a  little definition at the end. I think what I enjoy so much about the clinic is the variety of conditions you can see in one day and also the continuity you build with patients. Often patients come back quite frequently, sometimes twice a month. I think it is reassuring to be able to see the same people each time you come to hospital for what can be a scary time. 

I hope it's coming across how much I love my job. 

See you next week and remember to breathe. 

Pneumothorax - is air in the pleural space between the lung and the chest wall

Hepatic Hydrothorax - is a type of pleural effusion in people with liver cirrhosis

Bilateral Pleural effusion - the presence of fluid in the pleural space (there should only be around 10-20ml) 

CABG - Coronary Artery Bypass Graft

Lobectomy - surgery to remove an entire lobe of your lung 

Empyema - collection of pus in the pleural cavity.