Nightmare

At the end of my shift last night I signed over three patients to the incoming residents. Oddly enough, they all had a complaint of seizure. It's weird how sometimes there is order among the randomness of my job.

This morning at 5:45 I awoke in a cold sweat. My heart was racing. I suddenly remembered there being a fourth patient that I completely forgot to tell anyone about. And worse yet, I had sent her for a head CT and given her a whopping dose of fentanyl (a narcotic) by IV. I could picture her face and remembered a bit of our conversation, but not much. Today was going to be a crappy day, particularly if it was several hours before anyone found out about her overnight. What if she had stopped breathing or had a head bleed that no one discovered for hours? I drifted back to sleep, dreading going in to conference this morning.

Now that several hours have passed and I am awake, I know for certain there was no fourth patient. It was just a dream. The face I'd pictured was one of our nurses. But this morning it seemed so real. I have been a little frazzled lately. I think this is just a manifestation of my worries about forgetting something in all of the rush. It was creepy though, waking up like that.

Oh well, back to work...