The 10 Things I Hate during Calls
1. TOC (trial off catheters) I would highly appreciate it if teams could do their TOCs in the morning so that the poor on-call HO (who is cham enough as it is) won’t have to bother about something like inserting a urinary cath!
2. Nurses who don’t give the patient’s ward/bed no. when they message us! What am I to do with a message like: ‘Newly admitted patient from clinic to bed 7, pls clerk the case.’ And then, don’t answer the call when I call back to check on patient location!
3. New cases coming in anytime after 6am.
4. The 6am bloods. Bloody hell, I’m exhausted, rushing to complete any other changes and do not relish spending 20min patiently palpating for a person’s veins!
5. Plugs for renal patients! (especially those with AVF already)
6. Anyone calling from the **A class wards asking for an update, or asking to see the doctor for some obscure complaint.
7. All prep rooms! They all look different in different wards! It’s quite hard to locate the equipment I want… (Which explains why I carry a pouch bulging with those blue butterfly needles… they’re perfect for anything, including ABGs!)
8. The 4-5am period. That’s the darkest period of the call…
9. Weekend calls!
10. Entire kampungs who accompany their relative to hospital, persist in crowding around the bed while I’m clerking and keep getting in the way of equipment and staff.



Actually the best time for TOC is near midnight. Coz logically, they shouldn’t want to pee till am, when the culprits who ordered cath off will be available to reinsert it. So lesson learnt, don’t do unto other what you don’t want to happen to you at 3am. =) Next time your boss orders (or when you eventually become boss, which you will though it’s tough now!) TOC you can suggest this.
Comment by Marvin — May 19, 2007 @ 8:44 pm