Tonight is my first night on call as an "Acting Intern" That's AI for short. It is supposed to be a fourth year rotation where you act as an intern. Minus the ability to dictate, give orders or have any say in patient care. So, what it really boils down to is that I'm like a third year, but I don't have to go to lectures. And I'm not on the bottom of the totem pole for pimping - the third year has to field the questions before they get thrown to me.
Actually, it isn't quite as bad as I make it out. Everything in peds is micro-managed from the top down (as well as sideways - nurses are ever vigilant for mistakes... as are pharmacists and unit secretaries). I am given a little more freedom and responsibility as an AI. Not a lot, but some.
I am currently doing my AI in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology. We've got twelve patients in right now - some for routine chemo, some with more complicated problems. I am the only one from my team on call tonight. There are two general peds residents on, and it is generally their duty to cover the hem/onc patients overnight (unless a hem/onc AI is on). Here's my dilemma, though: If there is a problem with one of the patients, I want the nurses to call me! I'm the acting INTERN after all, I should be the first to be called. Problem is, when I went out and said "Hi, I'm Brenna, the AI on tonight, here is my pager number in case you have any problems" they all stared blankly at me and continued reading their magazines or gossiping. So I don't think they're going to call me... Which is in some ways good because I can't do anything anyway.
It could be a long night.
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