Ms. Laura was a vibrant and feisty lady with a personality that filled the room. She had been my patient two months ago when she was admitted for an irregular heartbeat and COPD exacerbation. She was a smoker, and despite her heart issues, she had a st…
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! Join us for a touching and insightful episode with Natasha Khalid, a geriatrics fellow, as she shares her personal experience of dealing with ICU psychosis in a loved one. Natasha takes us …
As a healthy 30-year-old intern with an infant, I never expected to land in the ICU on a random Thursday at 10 a.m. As I prepared to start my first precepted thoracentesis at the VA, I suddenly began to experience double vision. Assuming it to be a wei…
Recently, I read an article by an ICU nurse that discussed the disturbing trend of replacing seasoned nurses with inexperienced ones in the name of cost-cutting. This issue is not limited to the ICU but is rampant in every area of nursing. As a psychia…
The pager beeps early on the first day of my inpatient pediatric neurology service week. The pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) would like us to perform a brain death examination on a young boy before potential organ donation. An apparently healthy b…
We lived in the woods. Five acres of trees. You could barely see the sky. We left the big city for this piece of heaven. And by chance, we met a couple that had a 5-year-old daughter. Our son was four years old. They became best friends. They’d s…
The COVID ICU is abuzz with monitors beeping and doctors and nurses rushing from bed to bed to care for critically ill patients, most on ventilators. The machines – dialysis, vents, pumps – sound off their rhythmic repetitions; breaths are pushed in an…
I wasn’t supposed to hear this, but I did. It sealed the deal for me. It was one of the reasons I had to finally leave my true love: ICU nursing. After 33 years as an ICU nurse, I knew it was time to go. I used to feel like I had a purpose. I
Rea…
Six years ago, I met a man who was 93 years old. I sat down to listen to him, something we physicians don’t do as often as we should in the long-term care setting. “I want you to treat me like I’m 73,” he said, “What do yo…
She was 82 years old — sweet, frail, and maybe four feet eight inches tall. She had many beloved children, grandchildren, and even a few great-grandchildren They all grew up knowing that family was their core — their base, their home where love resided…
