$$$

I'm on placement at the moment. I'm so skint that I've just had to go get a free coffee from the staff kitchen where I do most of my shifts.

It's a bad time for me to need new glasses too. And a passport for elective. And a phone bill to pay...
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Jack Knife

While I will wholeheartedly admit to being ignorant of the news, Twitter keeps me up to date with enough to get by.

Today I heard for the first time about the NightJack case. I found out via Reynolds' twitter feed (which I download via the wonderful Ubertwitter) and did a little more reading this evening when I had chance.

Frankly I'm worried. Where does a newspaper get off in deciding to breach a blogger's anonymity? And why is blogging any different to writing under a pen-name or pseudonym? Michael Crichton, the sadly deceased creator of ER used to write under the pen name of John Lange. It's a common practice in writing. I just don't understand how a newspaper I used to enjoy reading thinks that it's acceptable to breach something so sacred?

It does also have implications for health field based bloggers in the UK, as there is every chance we could be outed also.

Dinner of champions

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Urgh

I'm laid in bed feeling like ming.

Please send diet friendly chocolate.
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Punchbag

Anyone who follows me on twitter will be aware that I often work on Friday nights. 

They will also know that recently I was being punched by a patient... fairly frequently.

Now a few slaps and pushes I can cope with. I'm made of fairly strong stuff and can usually hold my own.

But this wasn't an A&E shift on an alcohol fuelled friday evening.

This was a 70 year old man with advanced dementia. He also happened to have an impressive right hook.

The doctor had been reluctant to write him up for anything because every time he had passed us, the patient was sitting quietly while I was reading Angels and Demons. Sadly though, this was only for incredibly brief periods.

It was only when the doctor saw him slap me around the face and call me a f**king bitch that he reevaluated. 

My patient slept for the rest of the night. 

Does anyone want to re-evaluate their previous comments?

Just another day

This is partly a test and partly an apology.

Firstly I'm trying to post from my phone- something I haven't quite worked out yet.

Secondly it's an apology because I haven't posted for ages. I mean, I've still been here because I've been twittering fairly regularly. But a tweet just isn't a post is it?

I've been bogged down with study and elective planning and quite frankly I forgot to post.

There is a second part to the chemical restraint question that I will try and post later.

Until then, au revoir.
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Chemical restraints

So I want to pose you all a question. 

A colleague from the hospital recently messaged me on facebook to ask me my opinions on chemical restraint of patients in a medical environment? My answer was a bit mixed and muddled.

So I turn the same question to you:

Do you think sedative drugs should ever be given to patients as a form of 'calming' measure outside of mental health hospitals?

Should patients be written up for lorazepam or haloperidol simply because they wander around and disturb other patients?

Should they have medicines to help them stay in bed if they are confused?

What do you think??

Third Year Strife

Well, this time next year I will be absolutely bricking it. Pending of course that I've found enough money to actually go on elective.

My elective has been booked and now I just need to book many many many hospital shifts and bar shifts to get as much money as is humanly possible before next year.

I've 'guestimated' that I'm going to need in the region of £4000 to cover flights, food, rent while I'm away, the elective itself and basic living allowances for 8 weeks work.

Essentially I'm bricking it. The last time I was on an aeroplane I was 11 years old and we flew from Leeds to Jersey. The 9 hour flight with 2 connection changes barely compares.

I've written to drug companies, medical companies and charities trying to plead my case. Otherwise I just have to work very very hard.

Basically, I'm very scared. And very excited.

So i need some advice...

... and quite predictably some money, but that's another matter.

I'm trying to organise my elective. For those non-medics in the house, an elective is a period of study for medical students where you are strongly encouraged to go abroad for 8 weeks and experience healthcare in another country.

Now here comes the sticky part; I have never travelled alone, or in fact really ever. And therefore I'm nervous and scared. 

I know where I want to go, but I have absolutely no idea how to go about it and what I need to do. I also need to summon some money from somewhere to get a passport. 

So this is where you come in, if you feel helpful. Somehow I need to find in the region of £4000 before next summer to afford to go away, but I also need advice.

Has any medical student out there ever used an organised elective company such as Work the World, Medics Away or Adventure Alternative? Basically, I'm a tad nervous giving all my hard earned bottom wiping money to a random company based on no review, and was wondering if anyone knows of anyone who has used them in the past.

Please send kind thoughts my way, as my nerves are vanishing rapidly.

PS: if you are a company and would like to sponsor my elective, either personally or through advertising on the blog, please drop me an email on bloodystudents@hotmail.co.uk and I'm thanking you all in advance...

Unwritten rules

For some reason that I don't understand, university libraries seem to be the coldest places on the planet.

It's really not good when you're trying to get pharmacological principles through your thick skull and all you can think of is how cold your fingers are.

I also feel a grade A prat as I brought my sunglasses in with me today for cycling. They look pretty redundant now...