Emergency!

I got the H1N1 vaccine today. Read the consent, agreed, signed, took the shot. As I walked out into the very sunny day and drove away only minutes later, I was wracked with a sharp pain around my sinuses. As I gazed up into the sun, this was followed by four sharp sneezes. The thoughts that ran through my head in the next few moments:

- "Oh my god! I'm getting sick already!"

- "The consent said that this vaccine can't cause influenza! Those lying bastards!"

- "Is a headache associated with anaphylaxis? Am I itching?"

- "If I have to get back to the hospital quickly, where is the closest parking lot to the ER?"

Sometimes when we're the patients, even the most rational and evidence-driven among us can succumb to a little undue panic. I'm reminded of the saying of a favorite professor of mine:

"What exactly is an emergency? An emergency is something out of the ordinary that happens to YOU."

Holding Pattern

Just a quick update since it's been a while. I'm currently jumping through the hoops of hospital orientation at the new place. I haven't been working any agency or PRN shifts while going through this change, so I haven't touched a neonate in weeks at this point. As a result, the primary source of my material has dried up, but only temporarily. I'll start direct care again with a preceptor in the next few days.

Meanwhile, a little food for thought. This old post from Street Watch (one of my favorite EMS blogs) is on precepting. It's a funny feeling to go from preceptor at one hospital to preceptee at another, so it's been on my mind a little. Wouldn't it be nice if all of us had preceptors like Peter? If a new nurse could go in and be assured that "I will never badmouth you" and nothing more than that, how different would our profession seem to newbies?