3...2...1...Discharge!

A week and a half into my fourth rotation, I have decided that my heart and soul truly lie in hospital pharmacy. The first week at the VAC was spent acclamating me to the center. Since DE and I are at the VAC at the same time, they try to put us in different places. This week I am working in the discharge pharmacy on the fourth floor and DE is in the IV room. Next week I'm in the IV room, and the following week I will be in the nursing home getting a feel for what a clinical pharmacist does in the long term care setting. I really like the discharge pharmacy. Basically, orders for patients being discharged are "tubed" to the fourth floor pharmacy. We input the orders and "tube" the labels to the outpatient pharmacy. Then, we go counsel patients on the medications they will be going home with. This is the best part. A lot of these guys are really interested in their care and take a "driver's seat" approach to their health care. My favorite patient so far is a 91yo man, who affectionately is called Sprinkles. He is a cat bird! Seeing that he was 91, I asked him if he wanted to wait on his care taker for his counseling. He put me in my place real quick. He informed me that just because he was 91 didn't mean he was demented, blind, deaf, or stupid. When I taught him how to test his blood sugar and give himself insulin, he told me to tell the doctor to stick his hyperglycemia up her ass. HA! I told him that he probably fell because of his blood sugar problems. He told me I was wrong. He said he fell because he went to sleep while sitting in his rocking chair watching television. He just rocked right out onto the floor. His care giver, who he affectionately calls "old fat ass", found him during the night and brought him to the ER at the VAC. I documented in his chart that he would not be testing his blood sugar, nor giving himself insulin. I figure at his age, who cares? The man is 91 and still kicking. I believe he's earned the right to not poke himself with needles. He left the ward with his care taker - arguing with her the whole way to the elevator about his "damn oxygen." He cracked me up. I only hope I have that much spunk when I am 91. Did I mention I LOVE this rotation??? :)