As per the rotation requirements, I had to do at least one overnight shift, which I did last night/this morning. In a small rural hospital without trauma services, this was pretty pointless.
When I arrived at 11 last night, there were a few patients waiting to be discharged or transferred, and a few still waiting to be seen. So I went and saw the ones to see and gave my presentations to the attending, who was still working on transferring a patient to Columbus. The transfer took awhile, and so it was a little after 2 before everyone got out. And then...nothing. No new patients, nothing to do (unfortunately, I didn't realize how close I was to the end of the book I brought for just a situation). Finally, at around 4, the nurses took pity on me and put me in room to take a nap. They came and got me around 7 when the next patient came in.
So, I spent ten hours in the emergency department and saw a total of three patients, because I was required to do an overnight shift. If I had done those ten hours during the day, I would have seen between eight and fifteen patients, which to me seems like a much more educational experience.
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