I made some steps forward today in the ER. The thing about volunteering in the ER, as opposed to the cancer center, is that there are tons more people working, and they don't always work the same shift, so it's harder for me to build relationships with the staff. Today though, I was becoming a familiar face to people, and I was able to talk with them more about why I am there. One of the EMT techs told me he would come find me if he comes across anything interesting, and he did. There was a lady with compartment syndrome in her hand, and I couldn't believe how swollen or bruised it was. It was probably the size of a cheeseburger. She was going to surgery ASAP. Another nurse, as soon as he found out what I was doing, started describing all the cases that he was seeing. One lady had to have 90 ccs of fluid drained from a cyst on her chest, and they had to run tests to check for infection. I need to remember to bring a notebook to keep in my coat so I can write all these things down when I come across them.

But I did strike out in another area. A code came in, and some people had suggested that I try and peak in on one of those. I stood about 20 feet from the doorway, right by the nurses station and tried to watch, but someone saw me and closed the curtain. I absolutely want to respect the privacy of the patient though and completely understand what happened. However, hopefully I'll be able to form relationships with the doctors and I'll be able to be in the room when stuff like that comes in.