Page M6 December 19,1990. This Week

PRIME TIME

Mr, Woods was a ‘Christmas admission’

t was that time of year

again, and I was about

to learn the meaning of

the term “Christmas
admission.”

That all was not as it seemed
with the patient in 121B was not
immediately obvious. It only
came to light when one of my

_ colleagues was taken to task for
an error in charting. —
-  It-was a busy time of year for

us. With less than a week left -

before Christmas, we were
using all our spare time to make
the hospital festive for the
holiday, and plan some sort of
festivities for those patients who
would be with us over
Christmas day.
I was tacking up the last of the
‘garlands around the nursing
station, so was on hand when
the charge caught what she
deemed to be an error in
Shelley’s notes.

I couldn't believe what I was
hearing. Shelley’s notes had al-
ways been the envy of the rest of
us. She was always clear and
concise, with handwriting that
was half printing and very
readable. She was also the
“brain” of our team. It was hard
for me to imagine that she had
made a mistake.

She had charted that Mr.
Woods, in 121B had complained
of pain in his left hip, for which
he had been given medication.

Accused, Shelley stood her
ground. She knew he had been
admitted after a fall, and the file
stated the injury was to his right
hip. Woods was an old man who
lived by himself in a little shack
in the lower end of town. He

augmented his pension money

by picking-up cans and bottles

where ever he could find them.

He wasa familiar sight, trudg-
ing along in his big black great-
coat, collar turned up against
the cold, and an old canvas bag
slung over his shoulder. He al-
ways looked unkempt and half
frozen. I doubted that his shack
even had running water. He had
been admitted a few days before,
after a fall on the icy streets in
front of the drugstore. There
were witnesses and they had
called an ambulance.

We thought he might have
broken a hip, but the K rays
failed to show even a hairline
fracture, although he com-
plained a lot about the pain. He
was admitted for observation.

He was a mild mannered man,
and not bad looking once we had:
him cleaned up and his hair and
beard trimmed. He thrived on

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the attention. He liked the
television set we put up so he
could watch it from his bed, and

he even liked the hospital meals.
I found myself hoping that the
doctor would not discharge him
before Christmas, as with us, he
would at least get a good
Christmas dinner.

As it turned out, he shared my
sentiments. While Shelley and
the charge were arguing, one of
the girls from the lab walked
past.

“Shelley’s right,” she said. “I
was next door taking blood, and
{ heard him clearly.” We heard a
chuckle behind us. One of the
women on the cleaning staff was
doing her end of shift pickups,
emptying our garbage cans. We
all looked at her.

This Week

An Island Publishers Newsmagazine

V8W 1R6

626A Fisgard Street,
Victoria, British Columbia

Reg Cowie, Publisher
Tony Kant, Editor

381-3484

‘being the holiday season and all,

=

She grinned. “When you were
always helping him, I thought
he couldn't move,”she said. “But
he accidentally dropped the TV
remote this morning and was
out of bed in a flash to pick it up.
I don’t think he knew I was
there.”

“Well, the old goat,” said the
charge. We laughed, for after all,
who could blame the man, con-
sidering the alternatives, it

‘There were no two ways about
it, Mr, Woods was definitely a
“Christmas admission.”

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