Night duties in the hospital during internship and house job...
Most boring part of the duty was to spend it alone in the doctors duty room.
That was the era before the cell phones, laptops or even PCs.
So either stay awake, read something, catch a wink or do something which will keep sleep away from your eyes through out the night.
Sit with the nurses on duty and talk.
Little chit chat.
Share some experiences.
Or some information about the admitted patients.
And amongst various topics, one topic I still remember is the topic of "Life after death".
During internship, one day on a night duty in the Gynae ward I was sitting with the nurse on duty.
It was after midnight and whole ward was sort of asleep... The Sister (nurse) is talking to me in hush hush tones so as not to disturb the patients.
I ask her, " Don't you feel sleepy during the night? And if you fall asleep, who changes the drips, gives injection or medicines to the patients?"
She told me that usually this doesn't happen but there are talks of a Sister who has been dead for quite some time, being seen in the ward at night and tending to her duties.
I was shocked to hear this and thought that she was kidding.
But she wasn't.
"Yes doctor. It is true. Many times the patients tell that when during the night they were in so much discomfort, a Sister came and gave some medicine or injection and they felt better. "
And patients' description of the" kind Sister " resembled the dead nurse who was dedicated towards serving the sick, during her life also.
I asked her," Are you not scared? "
No she was not scared.
She was normal when she told that many times some lock would break on its own in the locker area but nothing was ever stolen.
They all accepted it was their dead colleague who was being naughty.
Well I was disturbed and scared on hearing it. I requested her not to leave me alone in the ward.
She was kind enough to sit through the night with me.
I was quite relieved when my rotation duty in Gynae & Obs was over.
Soon I was a house surgeon in the Department of Medicine.
But night duties are the same.
Only thing that changes is your increased responsibility.
There are sick patients, some very sick...
You have to attend calls on different floors.
No time to rest or sleep.
I remember how I used to fall on the bed in our duty room in the ward, with my shoes on and ears all pricked up to hear the knock on the door or sound of a call to attend to some patient.
Nurses used to keep on sitting on their chairs.
It used to be a bit of " entertainment" to hear their talk and sit through their dinner which they usually carried from home.
My night duties were over on that particular day and I came for the regular day duty.
There was great excitement in the nurses room.
All the sisters were talking what had happened in the ward at night.
What I heard, again scared me and I was thankful that my night duties were over.
It so happened that at night t the Sister on duty was sitting in the chair.
Sometime after midnight a very serious patient of tuberculosis appeared in the doorway, the intravenous lines on his arms all intact !
She started on seeing him and asked, "What are you doing here?"
He said, " Sister, I am very ill.... Very very ill."
She told him to go to his bed and that he should not have come like that and that she was coming.
She immediately set out towards the room where he was admitted. The room was at the end of the corridor. She didn't see him walking towards his room and was still confused at the sight she had just witnessed.
How could a patient who was so sick, who could die any moment, walk with all the tubes hanging from his limbs? And how was he breathing without the oxygen mask?
In the similar state of confusion, she went to his bed and found his utterly still body lying in the bed and all the tubes, intravenous drips all in place.
Patient's attendant who was dozing himself, told the sister that the patient had never moved from the bed !
Although the sister was a brave woman, still she said she was shaken at the experience.
I clearly remembered that patient... and knew I would not have acted as strongly as the sister on duty.
Another such experience was told by my uncle.
He had this attack of asthma and was admitted in the hospital.
One night he had severe attack and thought he would die now. There was no one near him.
He was gasping and tried to call out for the doctor. No sound would come out except choking sounds from the throat.
Then suddenly a doctor entered.
He was a foreigner, a white man. He told uncle not to worry and everything would be okay.
He gave some injection ( uncle felt a pinch on his skin) and suddenly uncle was breathing again. He turned his head to say thanks to the doctor but there was no one in the room.
In the morning he told about the incident to the doctors and staff who came for his check up. Nobody knew who this foreigner doctor was. They didn't have any such doctor in their hospital......
Most boring part of the duty was to spend it alone in the doctors duty room.
That was the era before the cell phones, laptops or even PCs.
So either stay awake, read something, catch a wink or do something which will keep sleep away from your eyes through out the night.
Sit with the nurses on duty and talk.
Little chit chat.
Share some experiences.
Or some information about the admitted patients.
And amongst various topics, one topic I still remember is the topic of "Life after death".
During internship, one day on a night duty in the Gynae ward I was sitting with the nurse on duty.
It was after midnight and whole ward was sort of asleep... The Sister (nurse) is talking to me in hush hush tones so as not to disturb the patients.
I ask her, " Don't you feel sleepy during the night? And if you fall asleep, who changes the drips, gives injection or medicines to the patients?"
She told me that usually this doesn't happen but there are talks of a Sister who has been dead for quite some time, being seen in the ward at night and tending to her duties.
I was shocked to hear this and thought that she was kidding.
But she wasn't.
"Yes doctor. It is true. Many times the patients tell that when during the night they were in so much discomfort, a Sister came and gave some medicine or injection and they felt better. "
And patients' description of the" kind Sister " resembled the dead nurse who was dedicated towards serving the sick, during her life also.
I asked her," Are you not scared? "
No she was not scared.
She was normal when she told that many times some lock would break on its own in the locker area but nothing was ever stolen.
They all accepted it was their dead colleague who was being naughty.
Well I was disturbed and scared on hearing it. I requested her not to leave me alone in the ward.
She was kind enough to sit through the night with me.
I was quite relieved when my rotation duty in Gynae & Obs was over.
Soon I was a house surgeon in the Department of Medicine.
But night duties are the same.
Only thing that changes is your increased responsibility.
There are sick patients, some very sick...
You have to attend calls on different floors.
No time to rest or sleep.
I remember how I used to fall on the bed in our duty room in the ward, with my shoes on and ears all pricked up to hear the knock on the door or sound of a call to attend to some patient.
Nurses used to keep on sitting on their chairs.
It used to be a bit of " entertainment" to hear their talk and sit through their dinner which they usually carried from home.
My night duties were over on that particular day and I came for the regular day duty.
There was great excitement in the nurses room.
All the sisters were talking what had happened in the ward at night.
What I heard, again scared me and I was thankful that my night duties were over.
It so happened that at night t the Sister on duty was sitting in the chair.
Sometime after midnight a very serious patient of tuberculosis appeared in the doorway, the intravenous lines on his arms all intact !
She started on seeing him and asked, "What are you doing here?"
He said, " Sister, I am very ill.... Very very ill."
She told him to go to his bed and that he should not have come like that and that she was coming.
She immediately set out towards the room where he was admitted. The room was at the end of the corridor. She didn't see him walking towards his room and was still confused at the sight she had just witnessed.
How could a patient who was so sick, who could die any moment, walk with all the tubes hanging from his limbs? And how was he breathing without the oxygen mask?
In the similar state of confusion, she went to his bed and found his utterly still body lying in the bed and all the tubes, intravenous drips all in place.
Patient's attendant who was dozing himself, told the sister that the patient had never moved from the bed !
Although the sister was a brave woman, still she said she was shaken at the experience.
I clearly remembered that patient... and knew I would not have acted as strongly as the sister on duty.
Another such experience was told by my uncle.
He had this attack of asthma and was admitted in the hospital.
One night he had severe attack and thought he would die now. There was no one near him.
He was gasping and tried to call out for the doctor. No sound would come out except choking sounds from the throat.
Then suddenly a doctor entered.
He was a foreigner, a white man. He told uncle not to worry and everything would be okay.
He gave some injection ( uncle felt a pinch on his skin) and suddenly uncle was breathing again. He turned his head to say thanks to the doctor but there was no one in the room.
In the morning he told about the incident to the doctors and staff who came for his check up. Nobody knew who this foreigner doctor was. They didn't have any such doctor in their hospital......
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