A few months ago I played the lottery. I usually don’t waste my money, but it was
over a half a billion dollars, so I forgot logic and sanity and gambled ten
bucks on the virtually improbable dream of winning it big. I don’t know why a half a billion suddenly made
me do such a stupid thing, but a measly $100 million is never worth my
time. I guess the whole thing doesn’t
make any sense.
However, I was at work before the
drawing and all my colleagues were standing around daydreaming and sharing with
one another what they would do if they suddenly found themselves a few hundred
million dollars richer overnight. I
heard everything from traveling the world, having homes in exotic locations, shopping
sprees of the rich and famous, sizable donations to charities and research
organizations, even randomly giving away million dollar checks to
strangers. Everyone had different dreams,
however the one thing they all agreed on is they would quit their job
immediately. I was quiet until someone
asked me what I would do. I told them I
was not sure, but I do know that I would not quit my job. They all looked at me in disbelief and asked
me if I was crazy. I simply smiled at
them and told them that I would not quit my job, but I was positive that I
would be fired before the day was through.
I am a Physician Assistant (PA) and
have been working in the Emergency Room for almost a decade and a half. I was told that the average life span of an
ER employee is 7 years. I have doubled
that lifespan and unfortunately I see no end in sight. Many probably think that 7 years is the time
it takes most people to burn out due to the stress and anxiety of the nature of
the job. Life and death struggles, even
with children. I am sad to say that you
win some and lose some. The death of a
child is never taken well, and I mention in my book MediSin that a small piece of us dies with the child when we are unable
to save his or her life. It’s harsh, but
such emotional stress is not the reason for such a short ER life span. Even the physical stress of working long
hours, typically 12 hour days, with no set breaks and overbearing patient loads
that in other hospital departments are considered illegal, causes ER personnel
to relocate at such a young age in their professional career. Even though these stresses are real, I am
certain that the real reason nurses, doctors and PA’s get out of emergency
medicine is simply because our patients are fat, lazy, careless pain in the
asses who are afflicted with an entitlement disease and express little to no
gratitude for the efforts of those trying to provide them healthcare in their
‘time of need’. Over 99% of patients
that plague the ER are in no way true medical emergencies and by all rights
should not waste our time, limited resources and often taxpayer money on
bullshit diagnoses.
The American people treat themselves like shit, abuse their
bodies and then run to the ER for every little hangnail and sniffle, convinced
that they are suffering from a medical emergency that needs immediate intervention
or else they may blow their brains out the next time they sneeze. After 50,000 patients, I have probably seen
less than 500 true medical emergencies, and that is being generous. The rest have been varying degrees of being
‘ill’. With the majority of those being
WIMME bastards (reference from the book MediSin)
and nothing more than symbolic sniffle.
“Sir, you have a boo-boo, and I will write you a Rx for someone to kiss
it and make it better. Thank you for
wasting our time in the emergency room today.”
So if I ever become financially
secure, whether it is from winning the lottery, discovering an inheritance from
a rich relative that I never knew existed, or the most likely scenario in which
I continue to work hard in the ER for another 20+ years (what a nauseating
thought) listening to complete bullshit everyday and save for retirement, that
is the day that my dream comes true and I can tell all these self centered,
lazy, pain in the asses what I truly think of them. They will get a healthy dose of the truth,
and that truth shall set me free.
Amen!!!
Buy Niam Hew's new book MediSin NOW!
WOW!!! Somewhat shocked at the level of disdain and bitterness expressed toward our patients. I'm not necessarily saying that you're wrong, but I can't imagine how you function if this is your perspective. I've been a nurse in the ED for almost 5 years and I love my job. Even if most of the people I see do not have a "medical emergency" and a select few are completely full of shit, it's still my job to recognize their needs and do my part in meeting them. I learned a long time ago not to judge because you don't know what has brought a person to this point in their life. If you are so sickened by the job that you do, find somewhere else to work.
ReplyDeleteI call my patients on the carpet. Emergency means 'I am going to die or lose a limb'. Period. You can't save the system by handing out popsicles. BS is BS. And patients need to learn that Dr. House isn't going to fix their deviated septum in the ER. Case closed.
ReplyDeleteWell said!!
ReplyDeleteI agree -------- to a point.
ReplyDeleteI agree that people in general are lazy, overwhelmed with entitlement, and self centered. That is what makes doing our job in the ER difficult. However, I must also remove the plank from your eye. As you focus your attention on the deficiencies and sins of others, you have become blind to your own short comings. Please understand, I fall into this trap daily and must be reminded constantly of my sinful tendencies. You see, you're disdain for people that cause difficulties for the ER professional is a reflection of own selfishness. You, being impinged upon by other selfish people, react with contempt because you would rather not deal with them out of your own selfishness. You would like to only see patients that are in true need of immediate medical attention and for those patient be grateful for their care. Although, it would serve you well to understand that they just like you are self focused as well. If you can come to this understanding, then would you not graciously be more tolerant of them because you yourself are afflicted with the same problem just from a different perspective. This is why marriage is difficult and ends in divorce so often. We all tend to focus on ourselves more than on the needs of others, such as our spouse who agreed to spend the rest of their life with our sorry, selfish a**. When we are grateful that our spouse has not left us for being such a pain, it is that gratitude that allows us to love them unselfishly all the more. If we take the same attitude with our patients that put trust in us to care for them, yet don't even know us, I bet you'll find your attitude toward them will change and maybe a few more will be grateful for the work that you do.
The ER is difficult, full of many patients that I myself have become frustrated and angry, but let us not forget that though they may not respect themselves, they are no less human and thus deserve to be treated as such.
I hope one day you do fall into a large sum of money, but since that is unlikely I hope all the more that you will find peace in your profession and thus not dread the remainder professional career.
I am sorry. I took a brief sabbatical. I am uncertain if I should respond to comments on my blog, by commenting on my blog? Is that a social media faux pas? More important... I just used the word 'faux pas'. I think my scrotum just un-descended.
ReplyDeleteI want to first thank everyone for your comments. I mean everyone. I appreciate anyone who takes time out of their day to respond to anything I have to say, even if they think I am an ass.
As for the plank that needs to removed from my eyes, I would rather have my patients walk the fucking plank. There was an analogy used for caring for patients in the ER and the lifelong commitment one takes when they say "I do" when they marry someone. There is a huge difference between the two relationships. When someone commits there lives to spend it with another human being, it is done with the understanding that there will have to be sacrifice and compromise. It is this inability to do such, that often, but not always, is the cause of the marriages failure. There are those times within a relationship, when one partner is partaking in self destructive behavior and despite their companions attempts to help them help themselves, they continue to descend down a path of destruction. Sometimes the mate follows them and other times they chose to abandon ship and save themselves.
When caring for patients in the ER, those that work there do not chose who comes through the door, and in a sense, who they will partner with for the next few hours. We don't and should not have that emotional connection, with our patients as one should have when committing oneself to marriage. In fact, we should look at every patient objectively, and if they are partaking in dangerous behavior, such as some sort of drug abuse, whether it be in the form of illicit or prescription abuse, we need to feel we are free from persecution and tell them what our concerns are; even if we upset the very people who we are caring for. If someone is abusing themselves or the system, then we need to have the ability to point out their negative behavior. If we take the attitude that I must hold their hand and help them without prejudiced, then we may fall into the trap of enabler instead of helper. Now don't get me wrong. Do not confuse what I mean with passing judgment on anyone. You can simply tell them what your concerns are, without being judgmental. I believe, in order to judge someone, you have to first have some sort of feelings for them. I simply don't care.