Midway through my intern year, one of the interns named Ryan who had previously been ambulatory suddenly started zipping around the hospital on a mobility scooter. It was quite the spectacle. I finally ran into him in the resident lounge and I had to ask: "Why are you using a scooter??"
He looked at me and sighed really loudly, "Because the hospital was out of wheelchairs."
"Huh?" I said.
"This is the ninth time someone asked me that today. I should just make up cards to pass out with an explanation, shouldn't I?" he said.
"Or you could just tell me?" I suggested.
"Knee surgery," he said. "I got into a motorcycle accident."
"So where did the scooter come from?"
"The hospital gave it to me so that I could still do my job," he explained, punctuating it with a sigh.
Maybe he should have just made up a card with an explanation.... would have been a lot less painful than trying to drag it out of him. I mean, you can't start zipping around the hospital in a scooter without expecting to generate a few questions.
The way you describe Ryan I can't tell if he was having a bad day, or he is is always a Richard.
ReplyDeleteI never liked the guy, from the first moment I met him during ACLS training.
ReplyDeleteWhat a brave soul. Persevering in the face of adversity like that, and not trying to draw attention to himself or his plight.
ReplyDeleteThe thought of Ryan (A grown man, I'm assuming) zipping around the hospital in a scooter is just hilarious! Hahaha
ReplyDeleteI wonder why you never liked him?
Briana: He was one of those people who seemed to think he was very funny, but I found his humor eyeroll-inducing. And I have a pretty easy sense of humor.
ReplyDeletePlus he once made me sign out to him postcall while running up the stairs (no emergency going on). Come to think of it, maybe he fell down the stairs during a signout and that's how he injured his knee.
This reminds me of my head of department where I used to work. She broke her toe and spent a month riding a chauffered golf buggy around the hospital grounds. It was only reluctantly returned when she left.
ReplyDelete