Whatever you are, be a good one

When we admit people to the hospital, we ask if they have any particular anxieties, concerns, or fears they want us to know, and most people say no or they’ll say something related to their disease process or some logistics about being admitted. But one guy said he was worried about the ghosts of people who died in the hospital. I don’t know how actionable that is, but by god do I respect it as an answer

If I could offer one piece of advice to anyone who needs to own a stethoscope, it would be to remember that everyone is purchasing basically the exact same stethoscope, and you may think “oh I’ll save money by not engraving my name on it, why do I need to do that” and that’s the devil speaking, and the devil wants you to lose your stethoscope and then a week later stare at a black littmann just lying on some desk somewhere, and you’ll be 80 percent sure it’s the one you lost, but you’ll have no way of knowing. Pay $15 to put literally anything distinctive on there.

I just walked. All the way to my car. Before realizing that I’d forgotten my stethoscope on the floor. This post is no longer about engraving your stethoscope, it is how stethoscopes are the biggest pains in the ass and they actively seek to escape you at every moment.

My stethoscope is engraved with my name and I’d say it gets returned to me at least once a month. I think almost every unit I’ve floated to at some point has called me to be like “it’s here again. We hung it by the charge desk”