Dear journal,
For the past 2 days, I have been bombarded with algorithms and cardiac arrests. I have seen ECG tracings in my sleep and counted the small boxes and big boxes where the P-waves and QRS's are found. Good thing I did not sleep walk towards Alex's bed and start doing chest compressions on him. All this fuzz is because of the thing they call Advance Cardiac Life Support or otherwise called as Stress.
A day before the training, I forced myself to study the lectures that I asked from one of our charge nurses. I guess what drove me to read was not the idea of passing, but the idea of failing the test. Yesterday, I finished the course. It was as tough as I thought it would be. Good thing I got lucky.
ACLS is about knowing everything, managing pressure, and, above all, saving lives. It is like you are in the center of a major crisis and you are the one responsible to take the lead and to give out orders; the only difference is the presence of the trainer on the side, ready to put an x mark for every wrong move you make.
Last night, I realized how life is so much like the ACLS course. We are faced with problems now and then and we are the only ones who can actually do something about it. If decisions are to be made, it has to come from us, and we have to stand by it whatever the consequences are.
Algorithms are like the paths ahead of us. We choose the algorithm by heart depending on what we have at the moment. Judgment is very critical in life because it is our lives that are at stake and not the lives of others. At times, we start at the wrong foot and make the case worse. We look for someone to blame, but all we have to do is to look at the mirror and we'll find who we are looking for.
A day before the training, I forced myself to study the lectures that I asked from one of our charge nurses. I guess what drove me to read was not the idea of passing, but the idea of failing the test. Yesterday, I finished the course. It was as tough as I thought it would be. Good thing I got lucky.
ACLS is about knowing everything, managing pressure, and, above all, saving lives. It is like you are in the center of a major crisis and you are the one responsible to take the lead and to give out orders; the only difference is the presence of the trainer on the side, ready to put an x mark for every wrong move you make.
Last night, I realized how life is so much like the ACLS course. We are faced with problems now and then and we are the only ones who can actually do something about it. If decisions are to be made, it has to come from us, and we have to stand by it whatever the consequences are.
Algorithms are like the paths ahead of us. We choose the algorithm by heart depending on what we have at the moment. Judgment is very critical in life because it is our lives that are at stake and not the lives of others. At times, we start at the wrong foot and make the case worse. We look for someone to blame, but all we have to do is to look at the mirror and we'll find who we are looking for.
Vasopressors are our family and friends; they push us to be better. When we are at our lowest, they stand by us and tell us to move forward. Thus, they make our spirit high. The shocks are the realizations that we have everyday. Sometimes, we are stunned; other times, we continue to fight (because that is what we are supposed to do.)
The best thing about the course was not about having the certificate or the pin in the end, but it was about the experience itself. Aside from the tension, it was still fun; I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
The best thing about the course was not about having the certificate or the pin in the end, but it was about the experience itself. Aside from the tension, it was still fun; I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Remember, lightning could strike anytime... c",)
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