My Wrist Comp

It's been a wonderfully active week. I had two exams and one practical in the didactic portion of my education. I managed to comp a wrist exam in clinical. I did well in all.

I spent a lot of time shadowing techs in fluoro. I observed techs setting up sterile trays for contrast injection. Usually the radiologist operates the equipment and the tech supports the doc.

My wrist exam was a challenge for me. I had read the department protocol book on upper extremities. It was difficult keeping straight what was textbook positioning and what is hospital protocol. I ended up dumping my first wrist comp attempt because I coned in to far vertically. What I'm finding is that every tech has their own way of doing things. I might have passed the first try with another tech grading me. This facilitated a learning situation.

Later, the tech who had initially failed my effort offered me a chance to re-comp. She spent time going over the protocols with me.

Our CR instructor told us that El Nino is becoming stronger. Our normal weather for Fall is rain until mid-December. Which translates into ski weather in the mountains. Snow means hours if you work in outdoor retail. El Nino casts this in doubt since it seems we can expect a warm dry winter.

Yesterday, my bus sideswiped another bus. The experience was startling but no one was injured. The driver for my bus is one of my favorites. I like his style because he whistles show tunes during the commute. Sometimes it can be distracting. But I always enjoy his good natured greetings.