A Little Change Goes a Long Way
I started a brand new rotation today in inpatient psychiatry at a new hospital. I am intentionally not providing the names of the hospitals at which I rotate, to lend a little more towards confidentiality.
But I will share a little bit of my experience. Today was SO DIFFERENT from what I had become accustomed to over the prior 3 months. Every single one of my patients had come from a nursing home. I feel like this rotation will be more of a “geriatric” inpatient psychiatric experience. I enjoyed my time, but as I got lost 3 times, am unfamiliar with my patients, the nurses, the charts, etc., it was all a little bewildering. Oh how I miss the comfort of my previous rotation right now. I’m sure that I will come to love and enjoy this rotation, but for now, I am uncomfortably unfamiliar.
The other issue with this rotation is that it is an incredibly long journey from my home. I experimented today with driving to the hospital. Those familiar with me and my style might guess that I am not happy with commuting via driving. I missed my walk. I missed taking photos of trash. I missed my daily meditation. But the drive only took 40 minutes. I fear that walking/subwaying/bussing will take up to 2 hours. I will continue experimenting until I arrive at a feasible solution to my geographical challenge.
For now, I will share a short exchange between me and a nurse:
Patient (for the 1,300th time): “Please move my foot one inch to the left.”
Me: “I have already moved your feet many times today. I’m sorry, but I will not move it again. I’m setting a limit.”
Nurse (overhearing conversation): “Doctor, I don’t know you, but I can tell that I’m going to love you.”
Nitey, world. 
Photos: Taken several days ago, when I was lucky enough to walk to work.