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Witnessing Extraordinary Things on an Ordinary Day
Eighteen months of living through a pandemic have taught me not to take anything for granted.
While I sat in my physician’s exam room awaiting her arrival, I overheard a conversation by the staff that piqued my curiosity.
A COVID patient recently discharged from the hospital six days earlier presented to the office with complaints of difficulty breathing. Although they gave him an oxygen tank to take home, they failed to teach him how to use it. Having almost died during his hospital stay, he refused to return to the emergency department and came to the office instead, asking if someone could teach him how to use the machine. The medical office nursing staff now had to decide the best way to deal with this unexpected dilemma.
“How much oxygen did he need while in the hospital?” “Eight liters,” replied the nurse. I winced. The average amount of oxygen given under normal circumstances via nasal cannula is four liters, yet this man required double that dose. Pre-COVID, the patient would have received proper instruction on using an oxygen tank by a respiratory therapist before leaving a hospital. However, these are perilous times we now live in.
The staff decided it was best to teach him how to use the machine in the parking lot, although they could have “turfed” him back to the…
