About how I am getting along at work

In my previous post, I wrote about my efforts to get fit. Today, I am going to share with you what I am doing at work. When I last wrote about this, I did share with you that I was still on a steep learning curve, and that it sometimes got overwhelming. Well, as I write this today, I will confirm that as far as those view-points are concerned, nothing much has altered. However, my acceptance of them has enabled me to try that much harder to overcome the obstacles that I thought initially to be insurmountable.

Yesterday, I was successful in cannulating the vein of a child for the sake of blood collection; today, I was able to do a test known as a lumbar puncture - something that one does to collect the fluid around our brain and spinal cord to check if there is neural infection.This is one test that relatives in India often do not give consent to, but here, in the UK, they are already aware that it is a necessary test to confirm or rule out infection in the coverings of the brain, or the meninges. This is a potentially serious form of neural infection, which can even be lethal if it occurs in a weak or small child.

Then, today afternoon, I trained with one of the advanced neonatal nurse practitioners, Ms. Liz Morrison, in examining well babies on the post-natal ward (where they keep mothers with recently delivered normal babies).

Now, to be honest, it isn't that I have not cannulated veins or done lumbar punctures or examined healthy babies. I have done all those things during my residency training nearly 32 years ago! And, during my years as a consultant, I kept doing those things off and on - but rarely on a daily basis. That led me to being less confident that I could pick up those skills again. Thus far, I have had difficulties in drawing blood samples from children, or in doing their lumbar punctures,  both of which I had done countless numbers of times during my training in the nineteen-eighties. Lack of continuous practice has blunted my experienced hands. There is another aspect to this as well. Techniques and the tools we use to do these collections have also changed. Needles are sharper too. In the UK, parents are allowed, nay, encouraged, to stay in the room with the child during blood collections and cannulations. All these things are unfamiliar to me, and cause me disturbance that comes in the way of my efficient performance. 

Thus, the last few days have really helped me to become a lot more confident and comfortable with the tasks I am expected to perform, May this confidence help me to convince the others on the clinical team, both, my juniors, and my seniors, to have faith and to believe in my capabilities. Amen.

On the positive side, I am very comfortable when I am asked to see patients in the Paediatric Clinic. This is because most of the consultations are of patients who are "cold", i.e., they have no acute emergency requirements. When the consultants are good to me, I get immense opportunity to learn from them. Usually, they are always good, but, at times, especially when there are many patients, the consultants do get a little impatient and flustered. I can understand where that is coming from, so it's fine. I remain patient and abide my chance to go into the consultants' examining rooms and listen to them and their conversations with the patients and their carers. They will also go over the cases I have seen and make course corrections where they find my plan to be in-consonant with the needs of the patient, or, in some way, not in line with what they think is correct. This is an immense learning opportunity and I am quite happy with it.

Any threats to me? Well, if I don't ship up in the next few months, I might get into trouble, but I sure don't think so, as I am an eager learner, and I guess the more I stay on the wards and do my work, the better I will get at my skills.