Scalpdamp
The warm slick of sweat under a surgical cap.
Topic
All
A collection of 186 issues
Roundswell
The subtle lift in mood when the team delivers a rare run of good news on ward round.
Roomstill
The unnatural quiet in a room after a patient dies.
Shiftosis
The end-of-shift condition in which enthusiasm for any challenging task declines in direct proportion to how close one is to handing over, often reaching its peak in the last hour, when even modest jobs begin to look unreasonable. May present as acute, chronic, or acute-on-chronic. Submitted
Nurse Osler
That nurse whose clinical judgment, calm authority, and quiet competence you trust more than 90% of your medical colleagues combined. Submitted by Peter Brindley.
Remorshock
The gut-drop when someone says "Remember that patient you saw" and you know it's bad.
Interpretastrophe
A situation where your words are marginally misinterpreted but the end result is a gulf away from what was desired. Submitted by James.
Helliday
A holiday during which you are physically absent from work but mentally still on the rota, ruminating on emails you haven’t received yet. Submitted by Peter Brindley.
Politeness index
A measure of the professional civility demanded after a colleague’s disastrous intervention, calculated as inversely proportional to the time required to undo it. Submitted by Roxy.
Radiloom
The suspended moment between ignorance and revelation while an X-ray loads.