On Fridays, I used to walk into work instilled with the fear of God. For some reason, this week-ending day always had some type of exciting event with a patient in store for me (i.e. my 1 in 10,000 cardiac code).
Recently, nothing even remotely interesting has occurred on a Friday. Take in mind, I am writing this with only one-third of my shift completed, which is probably a death wish in itself.
However, it seems that both our physicians and outside practitioners are ordering tests for what we call “low-suspicion” patients. This means that it is unlikely that the patient has any cardiac disease but the test is being done as a precaution.
Sure, it’s refreshing to interact with these alleged healthy people. It’s comforting to send them out knowing full well they won’t be having a heart attack anywhere in the near future.
Still, I’m quite tired of normal sinus rhythm. Yawn.
I believe that this is why I decided to create some of my own entertainment. This morning, one of our loosely-affiliated cardiologists came in to the office supervise a stress test on his patient. Although he is a nice enough man, this doctor holds a blatant misconception: Nurses know little to nothing about the heart.
So, as I ran the treadmill and watched the monitor, he decided to school me about the effects of beta-blocking drugs on heart rate and the meaning of the word METS. Politely, I smiled and/or nodded, feeling that “I know, pal” would be an inappropriate, if not dismissive, response.
At the end of the test, the doctor came to review the EKGs to see if there was anything of interest that he may have missed while discussing his trip to South Africa with the obviously unimpressed patient. Instinctively, I guarded my precious EKGs and flipped through to certain areas where I captured arrhythmias and other abnormalities. I went on to explain these events as he looked at me with a flabbergasted realization that my 4 years of cardiac experience has given me the right to employ the proverbial “I know what I’m talking about” tactic.
I’m the farthest thing from a know-it-all, but don’t patronize me, especially when I’m bored.
That’s not me. My scrubs are much cooler.
