Just as I need to help out at Cardiothoracic Surgery every day, I can ask Director Xue Yan about the postgraduate exam when I see her later.
After finishing rounds in the Emergency Department, Zhou Can went to the hospital cafeteria for a meal, then hurriedly rushed to Cardiothoracic Surgery.
Recently, he often felt like someone was secretly following him, so for Su Qianqian’s safety, Zhou Can advised her not to deliver meals to the hospital. If time allowed, he would go home to have meals with her.
When he arrived at the Cardiothoracic Surgery Department, it was a scene of bustling activity.
The high-profile promotion of medical achievements suggested by Zhou Can had yielded excellent promotional results, even exceeding his expectations.
Since a large number of experts and major nurse practitioners were poached from the Cardiothoracic Surgery Department, the atmosphere in the department had been tense, with everyone worried that the department’s business would plummet. However, in the past two weeks, the outpatient and emergency visits had not only not decreased but had actually increased and continued to rise. Moreover, among the cardiothoracic cases treated each day, some high-difficulty cases were gradually increasing.
There were even patients transferred from other hospitals.
"Dr. Zhou, you’re here! That’s great! There’s a patient over there plaining of chest pain acpanied by difficulty breathing, can you take a look?"
One of the female nurse practitioners at the nurse’s station was delighted to see Zhou Can, as if she had seen a savior.
"Is the patient admitted or just arrived?"
Zhou Can asked.
Now that it was past working hours, the patient was either a stray patient or transferred from the emergency department.
Patients admitted through the outpatient department, if a bed was available, would usually be hospitalized after the examination.
"The emergency department just notified us about the patient. Intern Xiao Wang brought the patient over, but his supervising doctor is still in the operating room with Director Xue, and I heard there was a plication in the surgery, so it’s uncertain when they will be out. The two doctors on duty in the department don’t dare to take this patient."
The female nurse practitioner, surname Luo, was said to be able to be promoted to nurse practitioner this year.
In Cardiothoracic Surgery, she had some standing, especially after three nurse practitioners were poached, her status had obviously risen.
You could see her confidence in her status by the way she directly referred to the intern doctor as Xiao Wang.
"Where is the patient?"
Upon hearing it was a patient from the emergency department, Zhou Can guessed the patient might not have been examined yet.
In the emergency department, after working hours, when receiving a patient with chest pain, they would usually notify a doctor from the specialty department to take the patient away. This is because the emergency department doesn’t have the capacity to handle this type of patient.
If something were to happen, it would be a huge problem.
Sending the patient to Cardiothoracic Surgery indicated that the doctor responsible at the emergency department, after a preliminary assessment, determined that the patient might very likely need surgical intervention.
There were also inexperienced doctors who, for the sake of convenience, referred any chest pain patient to Cardiothoracic Surgery.
The Internal Medicine Department had two sub-departments: Chest Medicine and Cardiology.
"It’s this gentleman!"
Nurse Luo led Zhou Can to a nearby flatbed. The patient was clutching his chest, lying on the flatbed, staring blankly at the ceiling. His breathing was heavy, like a bellows.
Two women stood by the trolley, one older and one younger.
The older woman had tear-streaked cheeks, looking sorrowfully at the patient.
The younger woman, around twenty-one or twenty-two years old, dressed very innocently, like a recent graduate or a student. From her appearance, she seemed to be the daughter of the older woman.
The mother and daughter had quite similar facial features.
"Where in your chest does it hurt?"
Zhou Can directly asked the patient.
This person had a blank, indifferent expression, looking quite frightening. Sometimes, excessive blood loss or impending shock could easily result in such a look.
The patient ignored him pletely.
The mother and daughter, worried about offending the doctor, the older woman quickly said, "Son, where does it hurt, say something! You want to worry me to death?"
The patient’s mother was genuinely anxious, tears constantly streaming down.
"My brother just said his chest hurt a lot, and he seemed to have difficulty breathing, it was really scary. I was at work when my mom called, so I rushed over to bring him here with her."
The young woman shared everything she knew.
"How did the symptoms start?"
Zhou Can asked the family while examining the patient.
"He is my son, twenty-eight years old. Not long ago, while eating at home, I saw other people’s children of his age already married, but he hasn’t found a girlfriend yet. He sleeps at home during the day, goes out at night, and I don’t even know if he’s working, so I nagged him a bit. Then he shouted twice, suddenly clutched his chest, and collapsed screaming. Not long after, he coughed up blood, it scared me to death. I have only one son, if something happens to him, how will I live?"
The more the patient’s mother spoke, the more remorseful she became, tearfully gazing at her son.
Chest pain, difficulty breathing, coughing blood, these were the symptoms Zhou Can had gathered so far.
While examining the patient, Zhou Can tested for tenderness response.
With slight pressure on the patient’s left chest, the patient clearly showed a painful expression, acpanied by coughing, and fresh blood was still being coughed up.
However, there was no obvious tenderness response on the right chest.
Also, the patient remained silent throughout, unresponsive to the doctor’s treatment and his mother’s lament.
"Has Teacher Luo measured his blood pressure?"
Zhou Can asked the nurse.
When addressing slightly older nurses, especially those who have worked a long time and are more experienced, it’s respectful to call them Teacher. Directly calling her Nurse Luo in front of the patient might upset her.
User Comments
0 comments from readers