Cure for a Black Cloud?

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fiatslug

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My beloved white cloud has abandoned me in 3rd year, and I'm on a 10 week stretch of q3/q4 call!! I've had four horrid calls in a row. I inherited the office of the previous holder of the Black Cloud to end all Black Clouds... anyone know of any Black Cloud voodoo that works? Maybe I should burn some sage in here... :eek:

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fiatslug said:
My beloved white cloud has abandoned me in 3rd year, and I'm on a 10 week stretch of q3/q4 call!! I've had four horrid calls in a row. I inherited the office of the previous holder of the Black Cloud to end all Black Clouds... anyone know of any Black Cloud voodoo that works? Maybe I should burn some sage in here... :eek:

Five code deaths in the past week while on call...... pass that sage please.
 
fiatslug said:
My beloved white cloud has abandoned me in 3rd year, and I'm on a 10 week stretch of q3/q4 call!! I've had four horrid calls in a row. I inherited the office of the previous holder of the Black Cloud to end all Black Clouds... anyone know of any Black Cloud voodoo that works? Maybe I should burn some sage in here... :eek:

I feel your pain.... I remember having a beautiful floor month at the beginning of intern year only to have it be followed by a MICU month where I got no less than 8-10 admissions a night :eek:
 
Here's how to cure the black cloud:

- 7 Hail Mary's (if you aren't Catholic, just do it anyhow)
- Pow wow dance outside the ED
- Rest on a gurney in the trauma resuscitation room for 3 minutes
- While resting on the gurney, have someone hover over you and chant "white power" (think white cloud here, stay focused!)
- Run the elevator up and down every floor 7 times while standing in the corner facing the corner
- Finally, remove the battery from your pager

I find that this ritual before every call seems to keep me from being notified of admissions.

:laugh:
 
medgator said:
I feel your pain.... I remember having a beautiful floor month at the beginning of intern year only to have it be followed by a MICU month where I got no less than 8-10 admissions a night :eek:

8-10 admissions a night??!!! How many beds were in that MICU??? :eek:
 
The best way to cure being a black cloud is to stop believing in superstitions. That is what I did, and ever since then I find that I am, shockingly, right in the middle (on average) when it comes to how busy my services and call schedules are.
 
fiatslug said:
My beloved white cloud has abandoned me in 3rd year, and I'm on a 10 week stretch of q3/q4 call!! I've had four horrid calls in a row. I inherited the office of the previous holder of the Black Cloud to end all Black Clouds... anyone know of any Black Cloud voodoo that works? Maybe I should burn some sage in here... :eek:

Hi there,
Find the white cloud in your black cloud. You are getting good experience dealing with this stuff so you are the "go-to' person when it comes to multitasking. Your call nights go by quickly because you are busy! Anything that you do lots of, you get better at and soon a horrid call for everyone else is just "a walk in the parK" for you.

njbmd :)

My PD has an award for the Black Cloud resident. It was funny because he always just walked up to the podium when this was handed out. The guy was an ace though.
 
debvz said:
Five code deaths in the past week while on call...... pass that sage please.

Good Lord! I remember one night as an intern, I had to pronounce 3 cross cover patients (only one came with a "might die tonight" heads-up!). The next day they called me the Angel of Death. :oops:
 
5 stats at one time with only 2 helpless interns, census of 35 MICU patients. :( Followed by 3 pleasant white fluffy cloud weeks. Then, 3 stats in a week during the day, one while the patient was awaiting d/c papers. 4-5 admissions a day on top of that. Followed by 3 months of pleasant white cloudness (outpatient rotations, limited call.)

The black cloud will eventually go away. Meanwhile, enjoy the pathology if not the lack of sleep! ;)
 
chicamedica said:
8-10 admissions a night??!!! How many beds were in that MICU??? :eek:

24 bed MICU.... but there were plenty of other units in the hospital where the chronic-vented pts could be shuttled off to. So there was always an endless supply of beds :) It was at Pittsburgh.... they have a ridiculous number of ICUs.
 
medgator said:
24 bed MICU.... but there were plenty of other units in the hospital where the chronic-vented pts could be shuttled off to. So there was always an endless supply of beds :) It was at Pittsburgh.... they have a ridiculous number of ICUs.


:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
 
I have a horrible black cloud. When I'm on they call for extra code carts. I have gotten pretty good at running multiple codes at once. I have tried to fix by black cloud by being sulen and depressed. So far nothing but it just feels right so I'll keep going.
 
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