Shadowing stopped because of my passing out..

[utmdstudent]

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So I will start by saying... stop laughing haha!

I was watching/assisting with the lancing of a spider bite about 3 days ago at an Urgent Care Clinic. There were 3 spider bite cases that day while I was at the clinic. During the first spider bite case, I was fine! No problem! But on the second case, I got very dizzy and lightheaded all at once (no warning whatsoever) and passed out into the floor, hit my head, big scratch on my forehead, blah blah blah. Nothing too bad. It's happened before. Later that day, another spider bite patient came in and I assisted with the lancing-- no problem! I am pretty sure I just locked my legs to be honest, not to mention that I hadn't had anything to eat or drink all day (this was about 6:00PM).

Anyways, so today, I was on my way to Walgreens to work and the supervising physician of the clinic called and asked how I was doing on so on. I told him I was fine... but then he said he was very sorry but that I would have to discontinue my volunteering/shadowing at the clinic because of insurance liabilities. I have been there several times and everything has been fine, so I feel like my passing out has a big factor in this decision. I told him I would get him an insurance waiver from my school and my personal health insurance. He said that would be fine, and I could continue my work at the clinic whenever those papers came in. He requested specifically that I get a shadowing request form from my school. I've never heard of that before...

Has anyone else run into anything like this?? Is this standard procedure? Or am I being treated more carefully because they feel like I could have sued them the other day?

 

[TAWS]

Why can't they just make you sign a hold harmless agreement?

 

[utmdstudent]

well that's what I asked.. they said they needed a letter from my school before I would be completely released from their liability. idk it all seems odd. i never worked much with that particular doctor, but with others in the office. they liked me it seemed...

do you think any class would give me a shadowing request form-- just like ask a bio teacher??

 

[J ROD]

well that's what I asked.. they said they needed a letter from my school before I would be completely released from their liability. idk it all seems odd. i never worked much with that particular doctor, but with others in the office. they liked me it seemed...

do you think any class would give me a shadowing request form-- just like ask a bio teacher??

yeah, I had to get one of those letter before I could go shadow at one place....sounds like they are really uptight!

just find somewhere else and stop passing out like a little bee otch!!

 

[utmdstudent]

hahah hush. i have gotten 1987123x better over the last 5 years. i can now TAKE a shot without having to be laid out hahaha. kidding...

when you work at hospitals, all i can seem to get is a volunteer position with some candy striper crap... do they let people in the er?

i've been in the er quite a bit before in another town but here in my home town they are a little weird about HIPPA... which is completely ******ed because i'm a pharmacy tech and have already been through enough HIPPA crap to last me 3 lifetimes..

 

[apumic]

I'd get the form. They're covering their butts. You passed out and hit your head, which, although it doesn't sound like you were injured this time, could have been a significant injury. They don't want to take that risk and if they did risk it and something happened a second time, there'd surely be hell to pay (i.e., everyone's going to be asking why you were allowed to continue and why the second injury happened -- attorneys, insurance, upper management, etc.). While, yes, it sucks that they have to be this uptight, we do live in sue-happy America, where everyone has to watch their a**. Sounds like a pretty minor inconvenience, really, compared with the risk you potentially pose to them without such protective legal documentation...at least, that's how they're going to see it.

 

[utmdstudent]

i see your point completely actually... 👍

 

[futureNCmed]

hahah hush. i have gotten 1987123x better over the last 5 years. i can now TAKE a shot without having to be laid out hahaha. kidding...

when you work at hospitals, all i can seem to get is a volunteer position with some candy striper crap... do they let people in the er?

i've been in the er quite a bit before in another town but here in my home town they are a little weird about HIPPA... which is completely ******ed because i'm a pharmacy tech and have already been through enough HIPPA crap to last me 3 lifetimes..

The way I got around this is by getting one of those volunteer positions at the hospital so that I was officially an "employee" of the hospital (had to sign all the HIPPA paperwork for the nine millionth time in my life). That way a lot of the liability stuff is not an issue.

I got a bit of a laugh out of this b/c it has almost happened to me before as well. I was shadowing in the ER and was just about to leave after 6 hours of shadowing without any breaks and had not eaten all day long when a trauma came it. The resident I had been following rushed me into the trauma room and threw a gown on me. I look up and I see a man lying on the table with his chest cracked open! They were manually pumping his heart with his lungs spread out all over the place and blood everywhere! At first, I was like, wow! This is amazing! Then the doc made the call after about 15 mins and reality hit. I realized I was in the room with a dead guy... 😱 it was my first time.

The room definitely started spinning and I had to grab onto the table to steady myself. I must have turned a distinct shade of white/green too b/c like 3 people standing around me immediately noticed and asked if I was OK. Thankfuly I didn't pass out or puke everywhere, but it was pretty embarassing none-the-less!

 

[ziggydoc]

The way I got around this is by getting one of those volunteer positions at the hospital so that I was officially an "employee" of the hospital (had to sign all the HIPPA paperwork for the nine millionth time in my life). That way a lot of the liability stuff is not an issue.

I got a bit of a laugh out of this b/c it has almost happened to me before as well. I was shadowing in the ER and was just about to leave after 6 hours of shadowing without any breaks and had not eaten all day long when a trauma came it. The resident I had been following rushed me into the trauma room and threw a gown on me. I look up and I see a man lying on the table with his chest cracked open! They were manually pumping his heart with his lungs spread out all over the place and blood everywhere! At first, I was like, wow! This is amazing! Then the doc made the call after about 15 mins and reality hit. I realized I was in the room with a dead guy... 😱 it was my first time.

The room definitely started spinning and I had to grab onto the table to steady myself. I must have turned a distinct shade of white/green too b/c like 3 people standing around me immediately noticed and asked if I was OK. Thankfuly I didn't pass out or puke everywhere, but it was pretty embarassing none-the-less!

wow. That's crazy. You've already had your first patient death. I was just thinking how I would feel the first time that happens to me. I'd say you were alright just by not passing out completely. 👍

 

[Tatastrophy]

The way I got around this is by getting one of those volunteer positions at the hospital so that I was officially an "employee" of the hospital (had to sign all the HIPPA paperwork for the nine millionth time in my life). That way a lot of the liability stuff is not an issue.

I got a bit of a laugh out of this b/c it has almost happened to me before as well. I was shadowing in the ER and was just about to leave after 6 hours of shadowing without any breaks and had not eaten all day long when a trauma came it. The resident I had been following rushed me into the trauma room and threw a gown on me. I look up and I see a man lying on the table with his chest cracked open! They were manually pumping his heart with his lungs spread out all over the place and blood everywhere! At first, I was like, wow! This is amazing! Then the doc made the call after about 15 mins and reality hit. I realized I was in the room with a dead guy... 😱 it was my first time.

The room definitely started spinning and I had to grab onto the table to steady myself. I must have turned a distinct shade of white/green too b/c like 3 people standing around me immediately noticed and asked if I was OK. Thankfuly I didn't pass out or puke everywhere, but it was pretty embarassing none-the-less!

wow crazy.
I worked at the ICU for the past two summers and have yet to actually see anyone die. I have seen a good number that it was obvious that they weren't going to make it through the night-that is almost sadder I think.

Oh and OP sorry about the hoops that seemed to have magically appeared before you-try your best to get the paperwork in and get back to shadowing. And if you feel "hot", or like your vision is clouding-find somewhere to sit, the floor if nowhere else and put your head between your knees. Oh taking a whiff of ammonia salts also helps. But what I found that prevents the passing out from happening the best is eating a really full and calorie rich meal- spare fuel to burn through.

 

[7starmantis]

Man I remember seeing some of my "firsts". I've never been one to pass out or get sick, but they always made an impact on me. I remember my first several deaths but by far the biggest impact came from seeing a patients with untreated breast cancer (over 1 year). Seeing her family (and husband) beg her to get treatment was hard. She had a gangrenous cavity the size of a volleyball in her chest that you could smell when she walked in the building. Seeing her standing there when she took off the dressings will be in my mind forever.

I went home and told my wife she had no choice about getting treated if she ever got breast cancer!! 🙂

 

[PanicAttack]

Make sure you stay hydrated?
or offer to wear a helmet like the girl in Garden State.

I'm sorry, that was mean. Good luck, man.

Also: I wish I'd seen somebody die whilst shadowing. I even tried to go for overnight shifts when I thought people would be more likely to get shot/in a car accident, etc. One (self-inflicted) GSW was the only "traumatic" trauma I ever saw.

 

[Tatastrophy]

Man I remember seeing some of my "firsts". I've never been one to pass out or get sick, but they always made an impact on me. I remember my first several deaths but by far the biggest impact came from seeing a patients with untreated breast cancer (over 1 year). Seeing her family (and husband) beg her to get treatment was hard. She had a gangrenous cavity the size of a volleyball in her chest that you could smell when she walked in the building. Seeing her standing there when she took off the dressings will be in my mind forever.

I went home and told my wife she had no choice about getting treated if she ever got breast cancer!! 🙂

yea. I cannot believe how scary it is to only learn that you have breast cancer when it ulcerates through your skin. terrifying.

 

[BBender716]

yea. I cannot believe how scary it is to only learn that you have breast cancer when it ulcerates through your skin. terrifying.

Guess right there's a good argument to not follow the new recommendations regarding mamograms 🙄

 

[sunshinevet]

Also: I wish I'd seen somebody die whilst shadowing. I even tried to go for overnight shifts when I thought people would be more likely to get shot/in a car accident, etc. One (self-inflicted) GSW was the only "traumatic" trauma I ever saw.

Seriously dude???
You'll see enough people die in the future to last you a lifetime (unless you go into derm). Its not something you should be looking forward to, or seeking out to see. Yes, it is something you need to learn to deal with, but the time will come for that. It concerns me that you seem so keen.

 

[Tatastrophy]

Guess right there's a good argument to not follow the new recommendations regarding mamograms 🙄

haha seriously. i will do whatever it takes to keep my "trophy tatas" around

 

[BBender716]

haha seriously. i will do whatever it takes to keep my "trophy tatas" around

seriously! lol

 

[futureNCmed]

Yeah... I don't think you should look forward to your first patient death... that's a little morbid. I am glad I had that experience tho... it definitely gives you something real to talk about during interviews that shows that you really know what the not-so-glamorous side of medicine looks like.

It was funny how it happened for me though... the guy was on the table, blood and guts everywhere and none of that made me queezy... but after the doc called the death I looked down and saw the guy's foot sticking over the side of the table and it looked like a dead foot. That's what did it for me... not the blood and guts but the dead foot.

At least I'll be a little more prepared then some students the first day of gross anatomy lab.

 

[beanbean]

BTW: I doubt those were "spider bites" you were seeing. Everyone seems to think their abcess is a spider bite. Most likely they were MRSA abcesses.

It obviously made the clinic uncomfortable when you passed out. Get together the necessary paperwork and when you go back make sure you have eaten. If you start to feel faint leave the room and sit down. Don't try to wait it out and be the hero; that's when you hit the floor. While standing in place for a long time try to shift your weight on your legs, stretch a little, and don't lock your knees.