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| What goes in must come out |
Firstly, to prove to all of you that the trucks do come in the north for water in, sewage out here is a photo of the truck and driver I discovered on Sunday underneath the window. I posted this on Facebook and this morning I was gently reminded by a local lady that it was the sewage truck not the water - now that's a mistake you hope that I, not the guys at the Hamlet Office make eh? My excuse was that I was peeking out through the screen and I didn't want the driver thinking I was a weirdo.
I've been gradually finding my way around at work and just when I feel like I might be getting the hang of it....another first comes along. Well, I guess it's going to be a while before I run out of firsts what with the radical change to my practice that I've made. I am certainly feeling more comfortable with the examining, prescribing and dispensing part. One of the newer on the team staff (I assume I've taken her place as bottom of the food chain) was kind enough to point out a clinical practice guidelines document) which has been most helpful. I have been doing my own orientation as there has been no formal offering. There are some things that confound me, such as the following:
Who would think that hearing aid batteries are a prescription required item in Nunavut? Surely not this newbie CHN. I get a call from the front desk and am informed that a gentleman has been sent over from the pharmacy for a hearing aid battery. What? I think - there is no way we have a hearing aid battery at the clinic what is this about? I confer with the 1st NOC and she tells me that a prescription is required for hearing aid batteries, they are allowed four per month per ear. So I go out to investigate and there sits a man with a hearing aid visible in his ear, holding on to a battery package. I try (not completely successfully) to explain to someone who is hearing impaired with English being his second language) that we don't have a battery for him. Fortunately a coworker is with him and I redirect them to the pharmacy "we just came from there the coworker says, don't you have just one battery to give him so we can go back to work?" I assure him that Health Centres don't stock batteries. I head back to the office to have the Dr sign the prescription and she tells me that the size of the batteries must be noted on the prescription. Hmmm, must've been why he was clutching the package which I didn't have the sense to look at. Sigh. The NOC has the presence of mind to tell me to phone the Kitnuna Pharmacy for the size or his community Health Centre (she recognizes his name as being from that spot) as the communities have prescriptions filled from the Cambridge Bay pharmacy. So, I fill out the script, the Doc signs and I attempt to fax it and......the fax eats the paper and jams repeatedly. So I seek another fax - the one I find is in the registration/medical records area, is very tall and situated on a tall table so has a footstool to access it. I feel like I'm performing some kind of mountain ritual as I feed the document in. My nerves.
Speaking of frazzled nerves, along with Meditech (the cursed electronic health records system) which has followed me here there is also the mechanical floor scrubber aka the zamboni which is used frequently and at inopportune times ex. when patients are coming down the corridors and nurses are bustling about, when you're trying to hear on the phone, listen to someone's chest - you get the picture. And also speaking of pictures the zamboni guy aka Harry (large cleaning guy) who you can hear from the other side of the building as he thumps along in his winter boots with this noisy machine is the fellow who is tasked with taking the X-rays if there is no xray tech onsite. He can only do limbs and chest X-rays - no abdominal or other ones (just as the nurses and cleaners in the communities do) but still.
On the weekend I had a one night roommate in the form of the ultrasound tech and she was great company, we enjoyed my half bottle of wine as I never before realized that I am not interested in drinking alone - how do people do that on a regular basis? She is off to house sit. On Tuesday I received a new roommate (the Homecare fill in) and she is from Nova Scotia - actually near where my mother grew up. Great to have a younger nurse with me as she looks at the situation with a completely different view. And the bonus is that she has worked as a Homecare Nurse or CHN in various spots in Nunavut so is able to counsel me on many different aspects of the casual work. The smaller Health Centres often have apartments over the HC, the on call, patient assignment, workload etc. are extremely variable. I am interviewing her as if I am a journalist as I attempt to suck all the information out of her. Her next adventure is to do 13 week assignments in Great Britain. We are pleased to find out we share an interest in tropical medicine. When discussing plans or adventures (she's worked in California, backpacked around Europe, come north) she says "why not?" And I concur - why not?
The shore captain has headed out to visit and go goose / duck hunting with his buddy in Saskatchewan and on Monday (the day he was flying out) I had a couple of missed calls on my cell as it was turned to silent. Apparently it was him, bored, waiting in the airport as he was delayed several times along the way. Those of us who know him well also know how very poorly he waits. His cryptic email said that '$30 of food coupons to spend in the airport didn't make up for the six hour wait, especially as Cabelas in Saskatoon was closed by the time he got in'. To which I have to say - if the hunting store being closed is your biggest problem, you're doing okay. Now, as for today, I'm not so sure as his hostess sent an intriguing message saying that he'd had to be rescued and that I should check with him to see what that meant. It would seem to not be (at least in my estimation) a serious thing if she is writing so casually and.... it's been a long day, I'm not sure I'm up for that so I'm off to bed as I'm on 2nd call tonight so if I should get rudely awakened from my bed I'll have at least had a nap on board.
