hospital work sucks

My first weekend at Miracle Hospital and I never have worked so hard. I have forgotton what it was like to be on my feet for a full 12 hours. In EMS, you have one patient at a time, not a whole ER. And it is work, hard work. You have to keep not only your 20 patients happy but your unit of nurses, attendings, residents, and students happy too. You are getting pulled from all diffrent directions by everybody. I'm beginning to hate the sound of my own name. It was a long hard two nights. Being the only Level One Trauma Center on the east coast of SC, we get the fucked-up of the Oh Fucks. The sickest of the sick. We had everything from GSWs to ABD pain times 1 year (Im not exaggerating, One year), I got home and literally crashed for 12 hours. I woke up at 9pm, ate a bowl of tomato soup and went back to bed for another 6 hours. My whole body hurt.

I'm having a hard time leaving Paramedic at the door. Being a EDT, you are the grunt. You do the scut work. You are in charge of nothing. And coming from the street, this is a hard thing to give up. On the street, you are the reason your patient is alive. You are making all the descions on treatment. Should I intubate, should I use a NRB or the BVM. Large bore or not to large bore that is the question. In the ER however, it's can I put this patient on oxygen Mr. Doctor Trauma Surgeon? Whould you like the Level One and Chestube? Can I do a 12 lead for you? I would be happy to serve you. I get pushed out of the way while Im trying to get vitals at the same time the same resident that had pushed me is screaming at me "Whats the patients BP!" Well Hun, if you quit pushing me back I could get it for you. Now move your ass and I will be happy to get everything you need. I even got my ankles run over by the XRay guy. I mean damn. I have never felt so disposable.

I also am having issues with the life restrictions the employee health people have put on me. I have been cleared by not one, but two doctors that actually examined me to go back to the streets. However a doctor that never laid eyes on me put a 25lbs lift restriction in the ER. Which translates to I can't push stretchers, transport pts upstairs or anything like that. Which is a big huge part of EDT. I hate having to tell my fellow EDTs to take a patient upstairs or tell a nurse that I can't. Because I can...just not according to a doctor that has never spoken to me all because of ONE line in my post op medical chart. Its like that one line totally overides the TWO notes of clearance from TWO diffrent doctors. It compleatly frustrating.

But I think I will get the hang of it. I will be able to switch back and forth from Paramedic to EDT. Its just gonna take a little bit. Ive done this before and I can do it again.