System Came When the Doctor was Thirty

Tian Zhiliang nodded.

Xiao Zhaoxi also nodded, ”Then let’s give it to Zhu Yuanzhou. Xiao Lu, you temporarily follow Zhu Yuanzhou!”

Tian Zhiliang looked perplexed, as if his mouth was stuffed with a corn cob, his Adam’s apple rolling.

Zhu Yuanzhou immediately said, ”Thank you, Director Xiao, you’re still fond of me.”

Xiao Zhaoxi continued, ”Lu Cheng will join you both in the regular shift schedule. We’ll adjust later as needed.”

”Alright!” Lu Cheng and Zhu Yuanzhou nodded in unison.

”Alright, let’s leave it at that for now. Zhu Yuanzhou, remember to explain the basic operation model of our department to Lu Cheng,” Xiao Zhaoxi instructed, clapping his hands afterward.

”Okay, that’s the arrangement for our surgery department!”

”Everyone, carry on with your own tasks.”

With that, Xiao Zhaoxi left. As the director of the emergency department, he still needed to arrange work for other parts of the emergency unit, including welcoming new colleagues—his ’administrative duties’.

Just as Xiao Zhaoxi left, Lu Cheng noticed Cao Gui and Xiang Kai handing out cigarettes to Tian Zhiliang and Zhu Yuanzhou, appearing quite nonchalant.

Lu Cheng politely declined the offering, and Zhu Yuanzhou led the group straight to the surgeons’ lounge, ”Xiao Lu, once you join the department, you should learn to find small joys, otherwise, night shifts will be hard to endure, and it’s not good for work.”

”Want to try one?” Brother Chen Fang continued to persuade Lu Cheng.

This time, Lu Cheng accepted, lighting one up as well, though he ended up coughing. After a while, he put out the cigarette, his eyes red, ”I can’t do it, guys, I’m not used to this.”

”Director Zhu, Director Tian, what are our main duties during shifts?” Lu Cheng asked.

Zhu Yuanzhou looked at Lu Cheng with a slightly disdainful gaze and said, ”Our tasks are simple, the first one is to be on duty.”

”That includes day and night shifts in the emergency and observation wards.”

”The second is waiting; the duty doctors in our emergency department are from various specialties on rotation, while our department’s emergency duty is mainly to send patients to the resuscitation room.”

”So our emergency duty shifts are actually night and day shifts in the resuscitation room.”

”Lu Cheng, you seem to have a night shift in the resuscitation room tonight,” Zhu Yuanzhou mentioned, hastily putting out his cigarette.

He continued, ”Let me explain the general process to you.”

”In our hospital’s emergency department, we rarely perform surgeries. Our duty is mainly to provide emergency care, like opening airways and urgent transfers.”

”Whenever a patient enters the resuscitation room, we immediately request consultations from the relevant departments.”

”Consultations in the examination rooms are requested by the attending doctors themselves. If they deem it necessary for a patient to be in the resuscitation room, the nurses there will notify the on-call physicians from internal medicine and surgery departments right away.”

”You’ll be working with the physicians from internal medicine then.”

”The key points are, first, requesting consultations by phone, and second, participating in resuscitation.”

After listening, Lu Cheng summarized briefly, ”Director Zhu, so our surgical duty is to assist the internal medicine physicians in tasks like hemostasis and debridement, right?”

”Yes, more precisely, to promptly stop bleeding and assist in urgent procedures like opening airways.”

”Of course, such patients are generally uncommon. Non-open injuries are usually handled by specialists instead.”

”We only handle traumatic active bleeding, and then some debridement and suturing.”

”Ward shifts involve prescribing and changing dressings for patients needing surgical debridement, for instance.”

”For example, Deng Duanniu, who’s on the day shift today, just went to the wards and should be done by noon.”

”On the day of your ward shift, you must complete the medical records within your shift responsibility. If a patient is discharged, the discharge summary is yours to handle. It’s all a matter of luck.”

Lu Cheng mostly understood. The emergency surgical duty at the State People’s Hospital was straightforward.

There was debridement and suturing, hemostasis when needed, and ward duties for ward shifts.

The focus is strictly on referrals and emergency handling, not on performing surgeries.

”Any other questions? You’ll get the hang of it after a few days on duty,” Zhu Yuanzhou said.

”Director Zhu, earlier Director Xiao mentioned that we’re divided into clinical teams; what does that mean?” Lu Cheng asked further.

”Well, Brother Tian and I lead two teams. It means that you, Chen Fang, Deng Duanniu, and I are in one working group. If you’re busy during your shift and can’t manage, give us a call.”

”If it’s still too much, then call the backup shift.”

”You’ll see it all on the duty roster...”

Lu Cheng took the duty roster and checked it over, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

If you count the backup shifts, there’s hardly any rest time throughout the day.

Zhu Yuanzhou explained, ”The reason we divide into clinical teams is to try to ensure that when we’re on backup, we can really relax.”

”Situations requiring backup aren’t very common either.”

”Today is your first day in the department, even though you’re on the night shift in the resuscitation room. But Director Xiao will be on the second line shift with you, and he said earlier that he’ll stay in the department with you.”

”Director Xiao places a lot of importance on you,” Zhu Yuanzhou emphasized.

Upon hearing this, Tian Zhiliang finally spoke up, ”Director Zhu, what’s going on? You’re stealing my buddy?”

Zhu Yuanzhou replied, ”Brother Tian, this is arranged by Director Xiao, I don’t know either. Our team was just missing someone.”

”Besides, Brother Tian, we usually don’t have much to do in our department. No matter which team, we’re all brothers. We can even play mahjong when free.”

Just as Zhu Yuanzhou finished speaking, there was a knock on the office door, but no one entered.

The situation wasn’t urgent as there was no pushing open the door, so Zhu Yuanzhou asked, ”Who is it? What’s the matter?”

”Teacher, my teacher said the Director of Hepatobiliary Surgery is here, looking for Dr. Lu Cheng. My teacher asked me to call Dr. Lu Cheng over,” came a timid voice from an intern nurse outside the door.

Zhu Yuanzhou’s round, pale face seemed to darken a bit, responding stiffly, ”Alright, got it.”

No worries, it’s just them; Lu Cheng was still busy.

Today, less than twenty minutes after reporting in, someone at the director level was already personally seeking him out.