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| The view of the hospital from my bedroom window - barren lanscape of Lewis |
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| Pretty big hospital compared to Fort William! |
Grey morning, only a 5 minute walk from the accomodation to the hospital though. Arrived in A&E to meet some of the Emergency Nurse Practitioners, or ENPs - highly trained nurses who take care of the A&E here. They see the patients and if it's something they can deal with then the attenders will not see a doctor during their visit - saves time and money all round! If it's something more serious then they just call down a junior from the wards and they come and see them.
After a quick chat I headed up to the surgical ward to meet Dominic, one of the F2s who I followed round for the morning. Saw a few of the patients on a mini-ward round, then did some bloods for them before heading back down to A&E at 1000 to meet Agnes, my supervisor. Great to meet her after lots of emails whilst arranging the placement! She took me through how the department works, and gave me a mini tour before showing me the way to Infection Control for an induction at 1100. Cue hand washing test with UV light box and hand dye! Never done this before but heard about it - basically have to cover hands in a UV reflective cream, then put your hands under the light box and it shows up all over you hands. Then you wash your hands before putting them back under the light to see which bits you missed. After spending lots of time scrubbing into theatre in Fort William I was in proper hand washing mode and so passed! Then spent a while quizzing the infection control person about the best beaches to visit in Lewis, got lots of recommendations...
Back in A&E saw my first patient, someone who had quite a deep cut on their hand. Took a history, examined and then sutured it up under the guidance of one of the ENPs, using 3 interrupted sutures. The technique was fine, got lots of practice in theatre in Fort William, but I'd never done it in an A&E setting. Just have to think a bit more about the sterile field! Before long they it was all dressed and they were good to go - successful first patient! The next patient wasn't quite so straightforward, and needed some input from the medical team - probably not an accident or an emergency but they came in and probably need something sorting out for them! After that grabbed some lunch from the massive Co-Op down the road.
Back in for the afternoon, was quite slow to start with. Got my computer passwords sorted out before another patient came in with quite a complex history. Got the chance to practice some orthopaedic exams before coming up with a plan. It's really good to build on the confidence I gained in Fort William re doing the whole process - history, examination, impression, plan, discharge. Think this is going to be a good placement - everyone in the department is really supportive and helpful. Stayed till around 1730 before heading back to the house, first day done!
Headed down to Tesco in town to do a big shop, £65... Stocked up on loads of supplies though, and now have the luxury of a cooker and full kitchen facilities! Made the most of them once back with the first proper pasta meal I've had in ages - my trusty staple of pasta/pesto/bacon with onion/garlic/Boursin/mixed veg = gorgeous. Washed down with chocolate sponge pudding, an orange and a brew. Did some clothes washing left over from Fort William and listened to Radio 2 all evening, tributes to Pink Floyd and Dark Side of the Moon, interesting to listen to! Heading back in for 9am tomorrow, I'll have to start exploring the island at some point, see some of these beaches I've heard so much about!
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