{"title":"An EM Intern's Misadventure and Lessons in Sleep and Wellness","authors":"Rebekah Riordan","doi":"10.1016/j.jemrpt.2023.100059","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Burnout, mental health issues, and sleep disorders continue to be a problem among emergency medicine physicians, affecting patient care, personal well-being, and retention of the specialty.</p></div><div><h3>Case report</h3><p>A 35-year-old female emergency medicine intern is brought in by her assistant program directors for altered mental status and ataxia, concerning for alcohol or drug intoxication. It was noted that she was confused, oriented only to self, and seemed to be experiencing auditory hallucinations. Also noted was she was tremulous and exhibited an ataxic gait. However, lab testing was inconsistent with drug or alcohol intoxication. During her hospital admission, it was discovered she had been awake over 80 hours after gaining collateral from friends and family. With the administration of a large amount of trazodone, she eventually fell asleep and was later diagnosed with four different sleep disorders and successfully treated by sleep specialists. This case is discussed here to bring more awareness to the poor state of wellness in the emergency medicine specialty and to suggest practical ways to address these multifactorial issues.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":73546,"journal":{"name":"JEM reports","volume":"3 1","pages":"Article 100059"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-11-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S277323202300055X/pdfft?md5=e4d85a70420d4defb8ed1039ffe27c11&pid=1-s2.0-S277323202300055X-main.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"JEM reports","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S277323202300055X","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background
Burnout, mental health issues, and sleep disorders continue to be a problem among emergency medicine physicians, affecting patient care, personal well-being, and retention of the specialty.
Case report
A 35-year-old female emergency medicine intern is brought in by her assistant program directors for altered mental status and ataxia, concerning for alcohol or drug intoxication. It was noted that she was confused, oriented only to self, and seemed to be experiencing auditory hallucinations. Also noted was she was tremulous and exhibited an ataxic gait. However, lab testing was inconsistent with drug or alcohol intoxication. During her hospital admission, it was discovered she had been awake over 80 hours after gaining collateral from friends and family. With the administration of a large amount of trazodone, she eventually fell asleep and was later diagnosed with four different sleep disorders and successfully treated by sleep specialists. This case is discussed here to bring more awareness to the poor state of wellness in the emergency medicine specialty and to suggest practical ways to address these multifactorial issues.