Experiences

I have experienced many things in my life. In fact, most people are amazed when I tell them some of my experiences and stories!

As a side note, to help illustrate my point, an anesthesiologist I work with, recently had a difficult intubation. I could sense his anxiety, and after several failed attempts, I began to see his panic. You see, it was a day that we only had one OR running. That means there was only one anesthesiologist there that day... him! He had no "back-up," no other anesthesiologist to call upon. I asked him if he would like me (a nurse), to take a look and/or try the intubation.

His response was typical of what I have often dealt with... He asked, "And how many people have you intubated?!?!"

Now, to put this into perspective, this Physician is the one that is ultimately responsible for the patient during surgery. He is in trouble, he is having difficulty. Someone offers to help and he takes a stance that I still, to this day, have difficulty comprehending.

I digress. I answered his question as concisely as I could...

"Well, let me think. I became an IEMT (Intermediate Emergency Medical Technician) in 1988 and a Paramedic in 1989. So, since 1988, in the past 20+ years, I have probably intubated a few thousand patients."

This physician had a blank stare on his face! His response was, "You were doing this before I even started medical school!"

Needless to say, I offered some advice and talked him through what I would do... he listened, followed my advice, and ultimately secured this patient's airway and the surgery continued.

Did I save a life that day? Probably not. As the surgery would not have happened and the patient would have been awakened. However, I did at least two things that day!

First and foremost, I improved the life of my patient, by affecting the outcome of the surgery. Secondly, I humbled someone and made them realize that there are others that have more experience than them. I hope that this made him a better physician!

So the purpose of this story?

I have experienced many things in my life. In each and every case/situation, I can truly say that I am thankful!

One of these days... I will sit down and write a book!