Pediatrics
The night shift
One resident, six children, twelve hours. Pages arrive on the clock; each is a triage decision, some become a bedside decision with the vitals read against the child's age band, and every child is handed over at 08:00.
20:00 8 pages tonight 0 on the list
General pediatric ward, 20:00 to 08:00
Six rooms, one pager
You are the resident covering the ward tonight. The day team has handed over six children. The senior is at home and answers the phone. Every page is a decision: go now, advise and recheck, or which first. Every child is handed over at 08:00.
Six children handed over at 20:00. Every page is answered before the next arrives; the pages you send back with advice are rechecked later, and the list on the right is yours to keep.
- Room 23-year-old boy, 14 kg, community pneumonia day 1, on intravenous antibiotics
- Room 56-month-old girl, 7.2 kg, bronchiolitis day 2, on 1 litre nasal oxygen
- Room 815-year-old girl, 52 kg, new type 1 diabetes in ketoacidosis, hour 9 of the protocol
- Room 12-year-old boy, 12 kg, gastroenteritis, admitted this afternoon for oral rehydration
- Room 312-day-old boy, 3.4 kg, admitted for jaundice, under phototherapy
- Room 69-year-old girl, 30 kg, acute asthma, on hourly salbutamol since 18:00