MICU

This week I am in the Medicine ICU. I love it. I'm pretty sure that an ICU (probably surgical) is where I will probably work when I graduate. We are a very small hospital and so our MICU is also very small. We only have 8 beds and aren't full right now. I had my own patient (pretty much) to take care of and some cool gear to play with. My patient was really not very acute, he was actually waiting to be transferred to a regular medical floor, so it was definitely something I could handle. The MICU is so much nicer than the regular floors. The A/C works, they have the continuous monitors with touch screens that are connected to a computer program that can automatically update the computerized charting. WAY COOL. Also, the people are really great, nurses AND doctors! I think the docs were nice because it was their first week in the ICU. They are brand new residents and usually need help finding things like the bathroom and the elevators. The nurses were very welcoming and were actually kind of happy to have some extra help.

Peeve of the week: I hate those disposable stethoscope. My patient is on contact precautions for MRSA and so you can't use any of your own stuff, everything has to be disposable or hospital gear because it can't leave the room. I have a really hard time hearing with those crappy disposable steths.