This week I’m back on the emergency department holding unit (EDHU) and consults service. I don’t think I commented on it before, but it was especially apparent today — the difference between the kinds of patients we see in the EDHU compared to those are in the voluntary unit I was in last week. The patients in the EDHU are just more acutely sick and I get to see a lot more active psychosis which is more interesting to me from a pathology standpoint, but somewhat less interesting to me from a patient care standpoint.
Today we had someone who thought her neighbors implanted a device in her tooth and were talking through it, another person who thought he was constantly stopping nukes from falling everywhere, and another who took off all her clothes and was hiding herself in the cubby closet.
Because of that though I don’t get the same opportunity to connect with patients that I do in the voluntary unit. But for now I look forward to seeing more of the acute stuff.
nANIMOv 