You have an interesting thought about the imprint on our DNA. It's hard to describe the daily ordeals and those patient who "stick" with us. A patient complained about me last week--"she sounded like burger king! How may I help you? I wanted to slap that doctor!" Another patient said that I "sounded like a robot." At least I'm free to say what I want for the most part...my husband was written up on the same day by a nurse b/c he said, "see! sometimes size does matter!" (He was comparing the size of two silver nitrate sticks.)
Sometimes it feels that we're damned if we do and damned if we don't, right? Be funny, be helpful, still get in trouble. As for the DNA, pretty good evidence of epigenetic effects on anxiety in descendants of those who experience serious trauma. I think I saw an article about the progeny of Civil War POWs that showed some of that. DNA is WAY more complicated than we ever imagined. All I can say is, poor kids of ER folks, bless 'em!
I loved reading this and reminding myself of why what we do matters - even when it feels as if we keep marching up the same hill and falling down, only to do it over again. Keep up the good work you and all fellow travelers do!
So…I guess I do like humans?!?!? Can I still hate surprise visits by hospital leaders making sure I’m asking open ended questions to patients rather than spending their time trying to resolve boarding and figuring out why we barely have supplies to keep up with the demand (including turkey sandwiches wrapped in plastic)? What about Lima beans and Brussel sprouts? Can I still hate them? Is it my love of humanity that keeps me going, living paycheck to paycheck, or my ongoing need for new comic material which is never ending.
Fabulous as always dear friend. I feel for all of you in the health profession every day. What you go through, the sacrifices you make, the lack of support. A grateful patient demographic thanks you, whether we say it as often as we should, or not.
Ed well said - but this is classic burnout. Simple fact is careers in emergency are going to have to be shorter. Increasingly we are seeing residency applicants who are even more adrenaline junkies than in the past or naive. Neither background augers for the emoirional stability and maturity needed to sustain a long career in EM . If you colleague can’t cut back their work hours they need career counseling as much as your encouragement. Things aren’t going to get better . We continue to do gods work but we can’t expect people to be martyrs or saints . Nb too the second and third order impacts - these stresses inevitably contaminate what personal lives we have after trying to recover from a shift. The military. Understands this . Trooos can’t stay in front line too long, and pilots are only expected to fly a certain number of missions during wartime . I don’t have the answers but the solution is not continuing to sacrifice our health and sanity .
You have an interesting thought about the imprint on our DNA. It's hard to describe the daily ordeals and those patient who "stick" with us. A patient complained about me last week--"she sounded like burger king! How may I help you? I wanted to slap that doctor!" Another patient said that I "sounded like a robot." At least I'm free to say what I want for the most part...my husband was written up on the same day by a nurse b/c he said, "see! sometimes size does matter!" (He was comparing the size of two silver nitrate sticks.)
Sometimes it feels that we're damned if we do and damned if we don't, right? Be funny, be helpful, still get in trouble. As for the DNA, pretty good evidence of epigenetic effects on anxiety in descendants of those who experience serious trauma. I think I saw an article about the progeny of Civil War POWs that showed some of that. DNA is WAY more complicated than we ever imagined. All I can say is, poor kids of ER folks, bless 'em!
I loved reading this and reminding myself of why what we do matters - even when it feels as if we keep marching up the same hill and falling down, only to do it over again. Keep up the good work you and all fellow travelers do!
So…I guess I do like humans?!?!? Can I still hate surprise visits by hospital leaders making sure I’m asking open ended questions to patients rather than spending their time trying to resolve boarding and figuring out why we barely have supplies to keep up with the demand (including turkey sandwiches wrapped in plastic)? What about Lima beans and Brussel sprouts? Can I still hate them? Is it my love of humanity that keeps me going, living paycheck to paycheck, or my ongoing need for new comic material which is never ending.
Fabulous as always dear friend. I feel for all of you in the health profession every day. What you go through, the sacrifices you make, the lack of support. A grateful patient demographic thanks you, whether we say it as often as we should, or not.
Ed well said - but this is classic burnout. Simple fact is careers in emergency are going to have to be shorter. Increasingly we are seeing residency applicants who are even more adrenaline junkies than in the past or naive. Neither background augers for the emoirional stability and maturity needed to sustain a long career in EM . If you colleague can’t cut back their work hours they need career counseling as much as your encouragement. Things aren’t going to get better . We continue to do gods work but we can’t expect people to be martyrs or saints . Nb too the second and third order impacts - these stresses inevitably contaminate what personal lives we have after trying to recover from a shift. The military. Understands this . Trooos can’t stay in front line too long, and pilots are only expected to fly a certain number of missions during wartime . I don’t have the answers but the solution is not continuing to sacrifice our health and sanity .
Great piece. Well done.
Thank you to all in the medical field.
I think if one really hated people none of the tragedy we see would be tragic. We wouldn’t care . We do care because we don’t hate people