some girls are so strange and difficult to decipher what they are thinking. and yup, she is rite. if i already find it irritable right from the beginning (even the slightest bit), maybe it is time to call a halt.
that may be better and fairer at both ends. and perhaps that's what u have been thinking too.
a question which i hate to answer, and more often than not, i don't have the answer.
in our current department, patients often stay quite long (in the range of 1 to 6 weeks) because this is after all, a place for them to rehabilitate, and we know rehabilitation takes time. but unfortunately some patients (or relatives) will make use of the situation and tend to extend their hospitalisation stay. and because this is singapore, healthcare is heavily subsidised by the tax-payers if u stay in class B2 and C wards. we are all pressurized by the management to discharge the patients when they are fit to be discharged. (honestly i feel that we should have more nursing homes and step-down care centres, to be sponsored by some richy rich people so as to minimise this problem)
anyway, this gives us additional burden. besides treating the patients' medical conditions, we have to work beyond that. we have to cover the social aspects - updating relatives, ensuring the needful has a carer, ensuring that the patients will be discharged on the scheduled time, etc. most of the times this can be settled by the medical social worker. but usually i will try to settle first unless it gets way too out of hand, or when the social issue becomes the primary issue.
unfortunately, some relatives will treat the hospitals as a temporary place for respite care. and some dun even have realistic expectations. For the severely stroked-out patients, u don't expect them to be up and walking independently, do u? and for that matter, even for the patient who has residual function, we don't usually wait for them to recover completely (in terms of function). Which is why realistic goals need to be set and inform to the family.
anyway back to the topic. i called up a relative a few days back to inform her that we will be discharging the patient next week. and the relative, when unable to take patient back, will come up with a lot of excuses or reasoning. Having working in this field for quite a while, i can briefly classify this into 3 main groups.
1) The one who played the doctor. "i still hear him coughing.. he still complained that he is breathless, and i think he is still not well"
2) The last-minute changes. "the maid that i have employed has her application rejected..." "my mother, who is the one taking care of my sick father is also sick now..." "i lied to u about the maid application. i have never intended to apply for one."
3) the one who played the lawyer. "what is your name? are you going to be held responsible when something happens to my dad upon discharge?" "wait.. before u say anything, let me prepare my pen and paper"
I hate to deal with the last group the most, because for the first 2 groups, i still have solutions. For the last group... well unfortunately i am not god and i don't play god. i wouldn't know what will happen to u, me or the patient tomorrow, so i can't be held responsible. and in the first place, should u be held responsible now that your father/mother/child has ended up as a patient cos u didn't take good care of him/her?
sigh. ultimately this is a service industry. we can't be too rude cos singaporeans are so fond of complaining the slightest bit. and i don't see the need of risking a complaint letter when the bulk of the profit is not shared with me.
my favourite song in this new album which i have bought recently. it has this broadway kinda feeling and i totally love it. and the mv quite interesting and extraordinary too.
mopex is round the corner again and we have to make a choice yet again. for the non-medics (i think i have mentioned this 6 months ago, but well..), mopex stands for Medical Officers Posting EXercise - for MO, we need and will be rotated through different hospitals/postings every 6 months, and usually 4 months b4 the rotation, we will be asked to select our choices (but they may not be able to give us our choices).
i discovered a webpage which contains description of various departments. check it out! Needs intranet though. some of them are not really up-to-date one.
hmm.. so what should i choose?
my choice will be based on the following: 1) i need to fufill my requirements 2) i need to learn from the posting 3) i need sufficient time for myself to do other things 4) i hope to have someone i know in the posting 5) i don't want to make the same mistakes twice 6) i better ensure that i get my first choice, cos the chance gets lower for subsequent choices 7) i can't put the not-so-popular choices in 8) transport time must be <30 mins 9) i think i better choose a posting within the cluster NHG 10) ideally better not be a MOHO posting (lest ED)
so with all these in mind, i dun really have much options. these include - in no order of priority (cos i haven't decided): NUH ED, NUH Med, AH Med, TTSH Med, TTSH Cardio, TTSH ED, NUH Cardio.
Come to think of it, i better bookmark this entry cos my subsequent postings should be based on the same criteria!
holidae.
singapore.
lefty left-brainer.
leo.
9 Aug.
selective procrastinator.
paladin by day and nite.
Chatters
Wishlist
tag watch
learn cooking
play a new musical instrument
lasik op
new hobby
clear exit
Fav food
chilli crab
fried kway teow
fried carrot cake @ upp bt timah, bt merah, bt merah view, clementi
fried dang hoon
pig kidney/liver/small intestine/large intestine/organ soup/pig blood
kway chap from sembawang hills
hainan chicken rice with gien3
century egg porridge
fried oyster
BBQ stingray
clams and lala
chicken soup and all sorts of soups my mum cooks
fried fishballs
fish soup from han jee @ amoy
fried chicken wings
salmon belly sashimi
hairy gourd
lotus root
szechuan veg
prawn mee esp from old airport rd, zion rd, adam rd, sembawang hills and hong lim
chwee kueh from tiong bahru, jurong west, clementi, queens st
kueh tutu
coffee/bread toast/egg from sembawang hills, ah kun
prawn cracker
strawberry sundae @ macs
hotcakes @ macs
rum and raisin
duck's tongue
indocafe coffee
water chestnut juice
sugar cane juice
marigold lemon barley
