Chapter 243 - 162: A Good Dream, a Sober Awakening

Chapter 243: Chapter 162: A Good Dream, a Sober Awakening

Director Yang Xu was absent today. He had received a last-minute notice last night to attend an important provincial conference on academics and administration.

The morning report was therefore led by the senior physician, Lin Haibo.

Lin Haibo: "Let’s begin. The night shift nurse will report first."

The head nurse nodded, and the on-duty nurse stood up. "Last night, we admitted two new patients. Three are in critical condition, and twelve are in serious condition. Bed 25, post-op for pancreatitis, developed a fever of 38.9 degrees Celsius in the middle of the night. Physical cooling and antipyretic treatment have been administered. Bed 31, gastrointestinal bleeding, vomited blood once during the night, about 100 milliliters..."

The nurse finished her report and sat down.

Lin Haibo flipped a page in his notes and looked up at the team of doctors. "Night shift doctors, who’s going first?"

As soon as he spoke, the room fell silent for a moment.

Last night had been a heavy one, with many patients transferred up from the emergency room.

And all those complex, critical care beds had just been assigned to a single person by the medical affairs department yesterday afternoon...

Everyone’s gaze, intentionally or not, drifted toward Jiang He, who was sitting in a corner in the back row.

Jiang He stood up, his expression calm.

"I was responsible for 15 beds last night. I admitted two new patients and will be giving a detailed report on three."

"First, Bed 25: post-op for severe acute pancreatitis with an abdominal infection. At 9 PM last night, a follow-up blood panel showed a white blood cell count of 18.5 x 10^9/L, a neutrophil percentage of 89%, and serum amylase had dropped from yesterday to 450 U/L. The patient developed a high fever at 2 AM, and aspiration from the dual-lumen abdominal cannula returned a turbid, flocculent fluid."

"I did two things. First, I increased the speed of the continuous lavage from 50 milliliters per hour to 80, and I added gentamicin. Second, I drew blood for a culture and sensitivity test. The patient’s temperature has now dropped to 37.5 degrees Celsius, and the abdominal distension has eased. The focus for the day shift today will be to monitor the color of the drainage fluid. If it turns clear, we can consider removing one of the side tubes."

The pen in Lin Haibo’s hand paused.

A few of the senior attending physicians around him exchanged glances.

There wasn’t a single wasted word.

He not only explained the night’s emergencies with perfect clarity, but he had also laid out the treatment measures and the follow-up work for the day shift.

Jiang He continued, "Bed 31: decompensated cirrhosis complicated by a major upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage. The patient vomited 100 milliliters of blood during the night. I checked their coagulation profile; the PT was prolonged to 18 seconds. I immediately administered a bolus of somatostatin via micro-infusion pump and had 400 milliliters of packed red blood cells prepared."

"Considering the patient’s severe portal hypertension, conventional acid suppressants and hemostatic drugs have limited effect. I’ve already had the nurse prepare a Sengstaken-Blakemore tube and place it at the bedside. This morning, we need to push the endoscopy center to arrange an emergency gastroscopy for banding or sclerotherapy before 10 AM. We can’t delay any longer, or there’s a risk of a massive variceal rupture at any moment."

"Bed 12..."

In one breath, Jiang He finished reporting on the most critical patients, then briefly covered the core metrics and overnight order adjustments for the remaining beds.

Potassium, sodium, chloride, calcium, transaminases, hemoglobin...

The numbers flowed from his lips one after another.

The entire room was utterly silent.

Previously, stories of Jiang He’s miracles in the emergency department had spread like wildfire throughout Affiliated Hospital No. 1.

But within the surgical departments, many were actually a bit skeptical.

They acknowledged that he was a good writer of academic papers, and they admitted he might have a certain drive suited for the chaotic environment of the ER.

But managing the wards was different.

The wards were a true test of a doctor’s fundamental skills.

Fifteen beds—never mind a young man who just got his medical license, even an attending with seven or eight years of experience wouldn’t dare claim they could handle it perfectly.

But now, they had seen Jiang He’s performance with their own eyes.

’Composed, composed, and so damned composed... ’

Jiang He exuded a rare sense of reliability.

It was like watching a senior department expert with decades of experience doing their rounds.

’As long as he was standing by the bedside, you just knew that patient would be safe for the day.’

After listening, Lin Haibo nodded in admiration.

"That was handled very appropriately, especially your timely responses for Beds 31 and 25. Jiang He, you’ve worked hard. Go home and get some rest as soon as the report is over."

"Thank you, Teacher Lin." Jiang He pulled out his chair and sat down.

Sitting next to him, Meng Shiyu was practically swooning.

’He’s so damn cool.’

’That feeling of absolutely dominating the room with sheer professional skill... It’s just... incredible!’

The morning report ended, and the crowd dispersed.

As a few of the attending physicians passed by Jiang He, they took the initiative to pat him on the shoulder.

"Jiang He, that was awesome."

"Go get some sleep. You pulled an all-nighter."

"You worked hard."

They had all come up through the trenches of clinical frontline work; they knew talent when they saw it.

Everyone knew what kind of dirty trick the medical affairs department had pulled, but Jiang He had shouldered the burden and handled it beautifully. That level of professional competence was enough to shut anyone up.

Jiang He took off his white coat, hung it in the locker in his private room, changed into his street clothes, and walked out of the inpatient building.

The morning air in Yangcheng was tinged with a slight humidity.

Sunlight pierced through the clouds, spilling onto the small plaza in front of the hospital’s outpatient building.

Jiang He stretched, took out his phone, and called his wife.

Shen Yu answered groggily, "Hello... Dr. Jiang?"

"Just woke up?" Hearing her voice, a smile involuntarily touched Jiang He’s eyes.

"Mmm... what time is it?" Shen Yu yawned on the other end of the line, sounding like she was rolling over.

"Almost nine. Teacher Shen, I just finished my report and am about to head back to the dorm to sleep."

The other end of the line suddenly went quiet for two seconds.

Then, Shen Yu’s voice instantly shot up an octave. "Finished your report? Going back to the dorm to sleep? Jiang He! You pulled an all-nighter again?!"

"The department was a little busy, so..."

"Busy my ass! Who was it that promised me they’d rest on time? You idiot! You big idiot! I’m so mad at you!"