I am soon to come to the U.S.!!

February 16, 2009

Greetings to all!!! I have rallied from my four night shifts. It took a while, as they somewhat wiped me out. That is a long shift to endure through the night. It can be quite a surreal environment, with 24 sleeping or not bodies throughout the ward. There was one moment at about 10pm one evening when I wished I had my camera and permission to take the picture. The 6 Nation rugby tournament is going on, which apparently is a big deal here in the U.K. In one of the men’s bays a television was airing the game and about 5 men were all gathered around it, all of them with head bandages from their brain surgeries.

I have been seeing a lot of different types of surgery that are interesting to me, such as temporal and frontal lobectomies, that are done for people with seizures. I am looking forward to learning more about them.

Today I went to another new staff induction. I know I still have a few more days of induction. One part of the induction that has been the most impressive to me is the presentation that the fire safety manager does. It has been so informative and educational and has left an indelible mark on me in regards to fire awareness and procedure. The fire doors have never made more sense to me until now.

Yesterday I went to the opera La Boheme with my nurse friend, Jacqueline, at the Coliseum. What a beautiful theater, and the opera was very nice. We went to dinner afterwards. She is very interesting and I learn a lot from her about English ways in the medical field. As she is a neonatal nurse, she has a lot of interesting stories. One topic that she has talked about extensively is childbirth and the parent’s ability to totally call the shots regarding how the delivery goes, even if it leads to a poor outcome. According to her, the baby has no rights in the delivery scene, and that parents can refuse recommended treatment that would give the baby the safest delivery.

Afterwards we walked through Covent Garden and window-shopped.

I work three more long days, then head off for the states!!!!! Yeah!!! I am trying to see as many movies as I can to be ready for the Oscars!