I'm almost at the end of my fourth shift here at my new job at Primary Children's Medical Center. So far, it's been what I hoped - interesting, not too stressfull, challenging at times and rewarding. Today, I'm woking in the Rapid Treatment Unit (RTU), a hospital unit just off the ED where children are admitted if we expect that they'll stay shorter than a day. So far, I've seen children with seizures who we're monitoring overnight, children who need IV fluids because of bad vomiting and diarrhea and a few kids with infections that need IV antibiotics. The ED has been fairly busy on the two days I was there, full of kids with summertime viruses (sore throats, stomach pain, etc), cuts and scrapes (if you've seen my first aid kit, you know I love to suture) and bumps and bruises. Most of my day is spent seeing children, coordinating care with the nurses, suturing wounds, monitoring kids that need sedation (so we can cast broken bones or suture cuts in awkward places) and communicating with the other hospital teams.
