Abdominal pain and your shift flow

We are short staffed for October and November so hopefully I'll be able to re-focus on Mayday come December or sprinkled into November. My last stretch of shift was as follows, all 12 hour shifts

10-10

12-12

12-12

off

10-10

12-12

12-12

12-12

off

8-8

8-8

off

Do you even care? It's okay - figured I'd share since this site is to share the ups and downs of shiftwork. ER life is engrained into me but it has tested my patience and stamina, for sure!

Speaking of... my goal is always to get off work ON TIME - that's a bit loose, I'd say I aim to leave EXACTLY at shift end time with a 10 minute leeway. The worst complaint to pick up is an abdominal pain - even 2-3 hours left in your shift. More specifically a female with abdominal pain. It could be anything from a simple ultrasound (US) to CT and US, is the CT with or without contrast? You could be working up right lower quadrant (RLQ) pain for appendicitis, ovarian cysts, ovarian torsion, UTI, constipation, small bowel obstruction, etc, etc, etc.

This also was the topic on my last health assessment lab class with FNP students. Here's a handout I gave them:

I have all the signs and physical exam findings in this sheet.

Below is from Bate's Guide to Physical Exam and History Taking cited APA 7 style as:

Bickley, L. S., Szilagyi, P. G., Hoffman, R. M., & Soriano, R. P. (2021). Bates' Guide to

Physical Examination and history taking. Wolters Kluwer.

Hope my little handouts help!

Comment what helps you remember abdominal exams. And do you avoid picking these patients up at the end of your shift?