So.. I'm back in Whyalla again!
Today was the first day I met with my preceptor - Gilbert. He's a young guy.. well, fairly young compared to what I thought of him. Thought he was a late-40/early-50 yo guy when I talked to him on the phone. He turned out to be early 30-ish.
Anyway, today I finally got to go around the wards doing clinical stuff. Gilbert told me that I will be following him everyday around the wards, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. I'm supposed to look for 3 patients to do my case study as well. Hope I'll manage to find one with DDIs or other drug-related problems.
The bad thing about today? Well, I couldn't answer many of the questions that Gilbert asked me. Arghh! Curses to my miniscule brain that throws everything outta the window 24 hours post-exams. Can't believe that I said that Metformin causes wt gain when it's actually wt neutral. Geesh.
So yeah, I'll be scarce for the next few days, or Buddha-forbid, weeks. *hears gasps in the background* I have to study my AMH to make up for all the stuff that I've forgotten! >_< Piaa aarrrghhh!!!
Oh yeah, and another useless statement: I spent my evening post-iting my placement workbook. It looks so cute with yellow post-its on it now. XD
By the way, me and Phaik Wen had our first IPL (Inter-professional Learning) session today. It's a tutorial where students of various discipline get together to discuss on a case. Today's case was about a possible breast cancer patient. There were 4 students in total including me and Phaik Wen, with the other 2 being an occupational therapist student and a nursing student. All I can say from the session is that I'm lucky that I did some chemo stuff and went through my AMH on those chemo things last week. They certainly came in handy! :D
I hope next week's case would be as interesting as today's.
Oh yeah, there was a new batch of nursing students who moved into the unit yesterday. The were very friendly compared to the previous ones. I saw them during their orientation today while I was doing the ward rounds with Gilbert. The 3 of them are really nice and I get along with them way way better than the previous 2.
And yet another useless bit of info: I learnt how to poach eggs (without vinegar nor a poacher) from Tristan the med student. I think he's trying to prove to me that he CAN cook. XD Let's see what he cooks tomorrow.
Oh and he saved me and Wen from this huge scary giant hairy millipede yesterday. Thank you for kicking it outta the door like kicking a football! :D
2010年4月27日
2010年4月22日
Whyalla - Day 4
I think I'm getting the hang of this. I can now somehow manage to do scripts and discharge orders from the time they arrive, up to the point where I go to the wards to supply them to the nurses' area. (That includes checking the Pt's info, putting the Px orders in the comp, printing labels, putting ancillary labels, checking them again, and finally letting the pharmacist check it.)
I think I'll be able to manage by next week. :)
Anyways, today was overall a slow day. Started off slow.. then we realised that the fax machine ran outta papers so none of the orders and prescriptions were faxed out. XD
But there weren't many anyway.. So after doing those, we mainly did imprest, manufacturing, and some scripts. And had tea and lunch in the middle. While John kept coming bothering us. And everyone trying to blame him when we can't find our pens or scripts or whatever. :p The best part was when a technician, who frequently plays netball, dropped a bag, and John said 'You must be good at netball!'
All in all, it's been good. :)
I think John's gonna throw me out there to talk to patients tomorrow though. He told me that it should be time for me to do it, so I think it's gonna happen tomorrow. I hope he doesn't let me do a complicated script with lots of meds. I prefer the PCM and ibuprofen ones! :D *wishful thinking*
Wish me luck for tomoz! :D
I think I'll be able to manage by next week. :)
Anyways, today was overall a slow day. Started off slow.. then we realised that the fax machine ran outta papers so none of the orders and prescriptions were faxed out. XD
But there weren't many anyway.. So after doing those, we mainly did imprest, manufacturing, and some scripts. And had tea and lunch in the middle. While John kept coming bothering us. And everyone trying to blame him when we can't find our pens or scripts or whatever. :p The best part was when a technician, who frequently plays netball, dropped a bag, and John said 'You must be good at netball!'
All in all, it's been good. :)
I think John's gonna throw me out there to talk to patients tomorrow though. He told me that it should be time for me to do it, so I think it's gonna happen tomorrow. I hope he doesn't let me do a complicated script with lots of meds. I prefer the PCM and ibuprofen ones! :D *wishful thinking*
Wish me luck for tomoz! :D
2010年4月21日
Whyalla - Day 3
Yeah, I figured that I would not want to write some nonsensical stuff on my blog every single day, and make you guys die from boredom when you read it. So I'll only post interesting stuff when there's something interesting going on.
Day 2 was basically nothing much. Just went to do imprest at the surgical ward, then the rest of the day was spent picking up meds for scripts, unpacking and checking meds that just arrived + labeling them and putting them on shelves, and then counting pills! :D
When I got home, Tristan (the med guy), told me that he saw me for about 5 seconds in the hospital while I was doing imprest. I asked him was he near the theatre, and he replied, 'I don't know! I was just following someone around.' XD
Anyway, he also told me about an interesting patient. (Well, fairly interesting if you consider that Whyalla is a slow place.) Someone came in with a burn from molten metal from one of the smelting factories. Apparently it was quite bad and it was all over 1 side of the face, and he was totally concious. They flew him to RAH in the end.
That's about it for day 2. Boring huh? -_-
Day 3: Chemo!!! Whee!! (This part actually happened in the afternoon)
Well, I didn't get to go see the chemo patients in the end as John the locum relief pharmacist told me that he's quite confused himself, as he isn't a permanent staff at the hospital and he doesn't really know much about the patients and other staff. Oh wells, I hope I'll manage to do it next week when my preceptor comes back from Canberra (renewing his visa).
So all I got to do for onco today was going through the patients' files and listing down the chemos that needs to be ordered for next week. Apparently no chemo drugs are prepared in this hospital at all (coz they don't have the facilities). All are made in Adelaide and transported to Whyalla. But I did learn that not all chemos are diluted in saline. Some needs to be diluted in dectrose 5%. No idea why. I asked John but he doesn't know about it, so I'll have to ask my preceptor when he returns next week. o.o
Before doing the chemo in the afternoon, my morning was spent repeating what I did yesterday: packing meds in boxes/bottles for the wards. Until John came around and saw the pile waiting for him to get checked. He then came to me and said, 'If you ever want some variety, there are some new boxes of meds that just arrived. Now, I'm not ordering you to do that, but if you ever want some variety..' I burst out into laughter at this point. XD So after I finished the meds that I was doing, I proceeded to do those newly arrived stock. Only managed to do the items that needed to be refridgerated, and then it was time for tea. :D
While having tea, the staff were talking about how one of the patients was making a fuss at the supplies department of the hospital, trying to get her soap enema (for constipation). However, it's not manufactured anymore so they can't get it supplied, and then she got into a huge fit and said that she'll make a complain, yada yada. Anyway, the interesting part was, right after tea, there was a Code Red (Fire) at supplies. Everyone started laughing and wondering if said patient set fire to the supplies department because she couldn't get her enema. It turned out to be a false alarm in the end, and everyone was relieved that said patient wasn't desperate enough to set a fire just to get her enema. XD
So after tea, I continued unpacking and putting away all those meds. @_@ Also learnt that there are many many weird formulation of meds that you'll never guess. That and many of the patients in this hospital are either suffering from nausea and vomiting, or constipation. (So many metoclopramide and domperidone in various formulations, as well as senna coming in!) But we can't really blame them. Many of the patients are on opioids for surgery or cancer.
After doing everything (6 invoices worth of meds, with more than 10 boxes in total), I continued doing the meds packing, with some scripts and imprest in the middle. Until it was time to get off work.
And that's all till now. o.o Phaik Wen is currently at her colleague's house making 'Char Siew Pao'. She asked me to go with her but I'm too tired to move. My feet hurt so bad. >_<
So yeah, probably gonna watch Masterchef while having cookies for dinner and then go to bed.
So long for now! :)
Day 2 was basically nothing much. Just went to do imprest at the surgical ward, then the rest of the day was spent picking up meds for scripts, unpacking and checking meds that just arrived + labeling them and putting them on shelves, and then counting pills! :D
When I got home, Tristan (the med guy), told me that he saw me for about 5 seconds in the hospital while I was doing imprest. I asked him was he near the theatre, and he replied, 'I don't know! I was just following someone around.' XD
Anyway, he also told me about an interesting patient. (Well, fairly interesting if you consider that Whyalla is a slow place.) Someone came in with a burn from molten metal from one of the smelting factories. Apparently it was quite bad and it was all over 1 side of the face, and he was totally concious. They flew him to RAH in the end.
That's about it for day 2. Boring huh? -_-
Day 3: Chemo!!! Whee!! (This part actually happened in the afternoon)
Well, I didn't get to go see the chemo patients in the end as John the locum relief pharmacist told me that he's quite confused himself, as he isn't a permanent staff at the hospital and he doesn't really know much about the patients and other staff. Oh wells, I hope I'll manage to do it next week when my preceptor comes back from Canberra (renewing his visa).
So all I got to do for onco today was going through the patients' files and listing down the chemos that needs to be ordered for next week. Apparently no chemo drugs are prepared in this hospital at all (coz they don't have the facilities). All are made in Adelaide and transported to Whyalla. But I did learn that not all chemos are diluted in saline. Some needs to be diluted in dectrose 5%. No idea why. I asked John but he doesn't know about it, so I'll have to ask my preceptor when he returns next week. o.o
Before doing the chemo in the afternoon, my morning was spent repeating what I did yesterday: packing meds in boxes/bottles for the wards. Until John came around and saw the pile waiting for him to get checked. He then came to me and said, 'If you ever want some variety, there are some new boxes of meds that just arrived. Now, I'm not ordering you to do that, but if you ever want some variety..' I burst out into laughter at this point. XD So after I finished the meds that I was doing, I proceeded to do those newly arrived stock. Only managed to do the items that needed to be refridgerated, and then it was time for tea. :D
While having tea, the staff were talking about how one of the patients was making a fuss at the supplies department of the hospital, trying to get her soap enema (for constipation). However, it's not manufactured anymore so they can't get it supplied, and then she got into a huge fit and said that she'll make a complain, yada yada. Anyway, the interesting part was, right after tea, there was a Code Red (Fire) at supplies. Everyone started laughing and wondering if said patient set fire to the supplies department because she couldn't get her enema. It turned out to be a false alarm in the end, and everyone was relieved that said patient wasn't desperate enough to set a fire just to get her enema. XD
So after tea, I continued unpacking and putting away all those meds. @_@ Also learnt that there are many many weird formulation of meds that you'll never guess. That and many of the patients in this hospital are either suffering from nausea and vomiting, or constipation. (So many metoclopramide and domperidone in various formulations, as well as senna coming in!) But we can't really blame them. Many of the patients are on opioids for surgery or cancer.
After doing everything (6 invoices worth of meds, with more than 10 boxes in total), I continued doing the meds packing, with some scripts and imprest in the middle. Until it was time to get off work.
And that's all till now. o.o Phaik Wen is currently at her colleague's house making 'Char Siew Pao'. She asked me to go with her but I'm too tired to move. My feet hurt so bad. >_<
So yeah, probably gonna watch Masterchef while having cookies for dinner and then go to bed.
So long for now! :)
2010年4月19日
Whyalla - Day 1
OMGOMGOMGOMG!!! >.<
Guess who I bumped into on day 2?? Tung Wei!! Hahaha! SA is such a small small place. Or maybe just Whyalla.
Anyways, me and Phaik Wen managed to ask her to lend us some hangers. Hahaha! Saves us from buying them.
So how was my first day at the hospital? Tiring and boring. Since my preceptor wasn't around, there was a relief pharmacist there instead. So he can't really go through my workbook with me since he's not my tutor. There are not many patients around and I can't really do patient counselling since there aren't any to counsel. Maybe I should ask if I could do it, if there are patients around. Anyway, what I was basically doing the whole day was helping the 2 other pharm techs do the imprest at the wards.
(In caveman language, that means going to the wards, check what meds they need, bring back the leftover meds from patients that have been discharged, go back to the pharmacy, put the leftover meds in the boxes to be "recycled", get the meds the wards need, and then go back to the wards to stock them up.)
Oh and the relief pharmacist (John) was too funny! He's a sarcastic person who has nothing good to say at all, but he promised that he'll think of something nice to say for the week. XD Not to mention that he tried to take my pen when I wasn't looking. And there I was hunting high and low for my pen, when the pharm tech told me that it's probably him who took it. And it turned out to be him! But he didn't confess. What he did next was just too cute!
He hid my pen with him, came out of his office, went to 1 of the aisles, then came to me and said that he found it!! LOL!!
He's a really funny guy and he even promised to give me his 2009 version of AMH since he's not using it anymore!! :D (Mine's 2008 by the way.) How nice of him! :D And when I asked him what time's lunch, he replied, "Anywhere from 12.30 to 4.30pm." (Working hours at the hospital is actually 8.45 to 4.45, and lunch hour is supposed to be 12.30 to 1pm)
When I told him that I won't be around at the pharmacy in the evening as I would be attending the diabetic info session, he said, "Well, what time does it end?" I replied, "I have no idea!" And then he said, "Well, just pretend that it ends at 4.45 and just don't come back! That's what I would do!" XD Anyway, it did end early and I got off at around 4.15. So I went back to the pharmacy and they all told me to go home early. How nice of them! :D
I also told them about my 10am diabtic nutrition session at the Shopping Centre tomoz, and John asked me to buy snacks for tea! XD
So yeah, that's basically it. Not much of things going on in the pharmacy. No angry patients complaining of long waiting time. NO COMPOUNDING!!! *horror* D:!!! No TDM till my preceptor gets back next week. No medication history taking either. Gah!
But on the bright side, I'll get to skip probably an hour or 2 of work tomorrow from the nutrition session, and then on Wednesday, I'll be going to do some drugs stuff at the onco ward! YAY!
Can't wait for that! :)
(P/s: In case you were wondering if me and Phaik Wen got lost, no we didn't. We ended up taking a cab back coz we were too freaking tired.)
Guess who I bumped into on day 2?? Tung Wei!! Hahaha! SA is such a small small place. Or maybe just Whyalla.
Anyways, me and Phaik Wen managed to ask her to lend us some hangers. Hahaha! Saves us from buying them.
So how was my first day at the hospital? Tiring and boring. Since my preceptor wasn't around, there was a relief pharmacist there instead. So he can't really go through my workbook with me since he's not my tutor. There are not many patients around and I can't really do patient counselling since there aren't any to counsel. Maybe I should ask if I could do it, if there are patients around. Anyway, what I was basically doing the whole day was helping the 2 other pharm techs do the imprest at the wards.
(In caveman language, that means going to the wards, check what meds they need, bring back the leftover meds from patients that have been discharged, go back to the pharmacy, put the leftover meds in the boxes to be "recycled", get the meds the wards need, and then go back to the wards to stock them up.)
Oh and the relief pharmacist (John) was too funny! He's a sarcastic person who has nothing good to say at all, but he promised that he'll think of something nice to say for the week. XD Not to mention that he tried to take my pen when I wasn't looking. And there I was hunting high and low for my pen, when the pharm tech told me that it's probably him who took it. And it turned out to be him! But he didn't confess. What he did next was just too cute!
He hid my pen with him, came out of his office, went to 1 of the aisles, then came to me and said that he found it!! LOL!!
He's a really funny guy and he even promised to give me his 2009 version of AMH since he's not using it anymore!! :D (Mine's 2008 by the way.) How nice of him! :D And when I asked him what time's lunch, he replied, "Anywhere from 12.30 to 4.30pm." (Working hours at the hospital is actually 8.45 to 4.45, and lunch hour is supposed to be 12.30 to 1pm)
When I told him that I won't be around at the pharmacy in the evening as I would be attending the diabetic info session, he said, "Well, what time does it end?" I replied, "I have no idea!" And then he said, "Well, just pretend that it ends at 4.45 and just don't come back! That's what I would do!" XD Anyway, it did end early and I got off at around 4.15. So I went back to the pharmacy and they all told me to go home early. How nice of them! :D
I also told them about my 10am diabtic nutrition session at the Shopping Centre tomoz, and John asked me to buy snacks for tea! XD
So yeah, that's basically it. Not much of things going on in the pharmacy. No angry patients complaining of long waiting time. NO COMPOUNDING!!! *horror* D:!!! No TDM till my preceptor gets back next week. No medication history taking either. Gah!
But on the bright side, I'll get to skip probably an hour or 2 of work tomorrow from the nutrition session, and then on Wednesday, I'll be going to do some drugs stuff at the onco ward! YAY!
Can't wait for that! :)
(P/s: In case you were wondering if me and Phaik Wen got lost, no we didn't. We ended up taking a cab back coz we were too freaking tired.)
2010年4月18日
Whyalla - Day 0
So... the bus finally reached Whyalla... an hour late. Poor Chris Thompson (SGRSH Pharmacy Coordinator guy) who was supposed to pick us up. Anyway, he brought me and Phaik Wen to tour around the city, with the 1st stop being Westland Shopping Centre. As we got off his car, guess who I bumped into!!! EDWIN CHIA! OMG, didn't expect to see him there coz I thought he was working at Crystal Brooke or something.
Anyway, our first stop at the Shopping Centre was Monarch Chemmart Pharmacy - Phaik Wen's workplace. We then went shopping at Coles (Open 9am to 9pm, 7 days a week!), where we bought a few urgent neccessities - food.
The next stop was then Whyalla Hospital, where I will be working at for the next month or so. The hospital is small, and the pharmacy was on the Ground Level itself. Hoorah for small hospitals and easy-to-find pharmacies!! *remembers getting lost at the Repat Hospital* -__-;;
We then went for some short sight-seeing at umm... Hummock Hill? Can't remember the name at the top of my head, but then again, I can't remember names to save my life. (And another confession, I only recalled Edwin's name about an hour ago.) Anyway, back to the topic.. There at the hill, Chris gave us some brief info and history about Whyalla and how it used to be as a ore and smelting industrial place back in the days.
He also enlightened us with a joke, saying how he saw a mother freaked out once, when she noticed her children playing at the shore, as the water level was up to their necks. As she yelled at them to get out of the water, the children unwillingly stood up, and surprise, surprise, the water was actually only up to their feet! XD The children were actually sitting/lying down at the shallow parts of the sea. The poor mum then turned away embarassed. LOL!
We were also told that we could spot dolphins on weekends when the fishing boats arrive at the shore. Apparently, Chris managed to get within a hand's length away from the dolphins! Hehe, now I know what I'll be doing during this weekend. Apparently, there are also places for fishing. Too bad I don't have a rod with me huh..
Our final destination for the day was the Uni Village, where me and Phaik Wen will be staying at for our placement duration. There are 3 other people staying in this 7-room unit: 2 nursing students and a med student. One funny thing was that the med student (Tristan) got locked out of his room, and still is, as I'm typing. The poor guy..
And then the fun part arrived: UNPACKING!!! WHEEE!!! Didn't take long for me to unpack everything and realise that hangers weren't provided in the rooms. And many things aren't available in the unit as well, such as bowls, certain cooking utensils and stuff. It really makes one wonder how the other 3 managed to survive without having those basic stuff.
Also, that reminds me that I would have to drop by the shopping centre to get the stuff. Phaik Wen and I had also already planned that we will be walking back to the Uni Village after getting our groceries. Now let's all keep our fingers and toes crossed that the both of us do not end up lost tomorrow.
Anyway, our first stop at the Shopping Centre was Monarch Chemmart Pharmacy - Phaik Wen's workplace. We then went shopping at Coles (Open 9am to 9pm, 7 days a week!), where we bought a few urgent neccessities - food.
The next stop was then Whyalla Hospital, where I will be working at for the next month or so. The hospital is small, and the pharmacy was on the Ground Level itself. Hoorah for small hospitals and easy-to-find pharmacies!! *remembers getting lost at the Repat Hospital* -__-;;
We then went for some short sight-seeing at umm... Hummock Hill? Can't remember the name at the top of my head, but then again, I can't remember names to save my life. (And another confession, I only recalled Edwin's name about an hour ago.) Anyway, back to the topic.. There at the hill, Chris gave us some brief info and history about Whyalla and how it used to be as a ore and smelting industrial place back in the days.
He also enlightened us with a joke, saying how he saw a mother freaked out once, when she noticed her children playing at the shore, as the water level was up to their necks. As she yelled at them to get out of the water, the children unwillingly stood up, and surprise, surprise, the water was actually only up to their feet! XD The children were actually sitting/lying down at the shallow parts of the sea. The poor mum then turned away embarassed. LOL!
We were also told that we could spot dolphins on weekends when the fishing boats arrive at the shore. Apparently, Chris managed to get within a hand's length away from the dolphins! Hehe, now I know what I'll be doing during this weekend. Apparently, there are also places for fishing. Too bad I don't have a rod with me huh..
Our final destination for the day was the Uni Village, where me and Phaik Wen will be staying at for our placement duration. There are 3 other people staying in this 7-room unit: 2 nursing students and a med student. One funny thing was that the med student (Tristan) got locked out of his room, and still is, as I'm typing. The poor guy..
And then the fun part arrived: UNPACKING!!! WHEEE!!! Didn't take long for me to unpack everything and realise that hangers weren't provided in the rooms. And many things aren't available in the unit as well, such as bowls, certain cooking utensils and stuff. It really makes one wonder how the other 3 managed to survive without having those basic stuff.
Also, that reminds me that I would have to drop by the shopping centre to get the stuff. Phaik Wen and I had also already planned that we will be walking back to the Uni Village after getting our groceries. Now let's all keep our fingers and toes crossed that the both of us do not end up lost tomorrow.
Whyalla here I come!
No, I didn't resort to using the puppy face. I managed to board a new G10 all the way down to the bus terminal at Chinatown. And I was carrying 2 heavy luggages, a laptop bag with a cooler in there, and a slingbag filled with heavy texts such as the AMH, some books and other neccessities. All by myself. *proud*
So there I was lugging those ridiculously heavy baggages to the bus stop and the station. When it was finally time for boarding, me and my friends got on the bus together. After waiting for eons, the driver announced that we have to switch buses as the bus we were on had some air-conditioning malfunctions.
And as i'm typing this, we've finally departed. All the best to me, the city girl trying to live in a rural area. (As if Adelaide isn't rural enough already! LOL!!!)
But this will definitely be a good experience, since it'll bring me a taste of what my dream job may be like. 頑張ります！
Signing off for now,
Rei
So there I was lugging those ridiculously heavy baggages to the bus stop and the station. When it was finally time for boarding, me and my friends got on the bus together. After waiting for eons, the driver announced that we have to switch buses as the bus we were on had some air-conditioning malfunctions.
And as i'm typing this, we've finally departed. All the best to me, the city girl trying to live in a rural area. (As if Adelaide isn't rural enough already! LOL!!!)
But this will definitely be a good experience, since it'll bring me a taste of what my dream job may be like. 頑張ります！
Signing off for now,
Rei
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