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24 Hours On Call


MON 5:25PM Ryder returns to the routine of caring for her own patients once the code is over. On her way to the Emergency Department (ED) to admit two new patients, she stops outside a service elevator to answer a page. Telephones are strategically placed throughout the Medical Center so caregivers can respond to pages from almost anywhere. Ryder will stop a few more times on her way to the ED—to answer pages, to check on a patient, and to sign the death certificate for the patient who died in the code-blue emergency. "You gotta be efficient," she says as she continues on her way toward the ED.

MON 5:29PM Ryder has almost reached the ED when she spies one of her patients waiting on a gurney in a hallway. "Hi," she says as she recognizes him—calling him by name and asking how he's doing. He seems glad to see her. He had been brought down from the inpatient unit for a CT scan, which has been taken, and now he's waiting for a member of the transportation staff to wheel him back up to his room. Transportation personnel, who used to be called orderlies, take patients all over the Medical Center—from inpatient rooms and clinic offices to the x-ray department and other areas.


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