I am certainly more anger and frustration among patients and ER docs (and staff), more elderly and chronically ill patients who do not have adequate access to a primary care physician, longer waiting times for acute care, referrals and follow-up visits, recurring shortages of certain drugs and IV fluids, fewer kids getting vaccinations and/or boosters, Etc., etc. Ironically, here in Albuquerque there are no shortages of guns on the street, homeless folks needing care (often brought in by police for mental health issues), and, unfortunately, an abundance of malpractice lawyers. I am old enough to retire, but on most days, I still love my job and the team that I work with.
I count myself as one of the fortunate few who can retrain; I am a PA who has done 14 years of Emergency Medicine and I finally cut back my hours and went into Urgent Care. When Urgent Care became untenable, I am now retraining in Orthopedic Spine surgery. Orthospine is like night and day compared to Emergency Medicine. I am totally amazed. I think most of us in the ER have a kind of Stockholm syndrome. I catch myself missing it and may end up picking up some PRN shifts but it is nothing close to the way it was even five years ago. I think the Covid pandemic was a tipping point and administrators have discovered that they can get away with chronically understaffing. It is very sad and I wonder how long it’s going to take for all of this to totally crash and burn.
It is a great article. And unfortunately still so true a year later. I've lost track of the number of days this year my hospital - a large, Level 1 trauma center has been over 110% capacity with so many holds in the ED. I don't know what the solution is either, but my fear is that things are going to get much worse before they get better....
I am retired after 30 years in Emergency Medicine. I refuse to watch any medical shows. I do not watch any shows with trauma or death. I thought it was just me!
I am certainly more anger and frustration among patients and ER docs (and staff), more elderly and chronically ill patients who do not have adequate access to a primary care physician, longer waiting times for acute care, referrals and follow-up visits, recurring shortages of certain drugs and IV fluids, fewer kids getting vaccinations and/or boosters, Etc., etc. Ironically, here in Albuquerque there are no shortages of guns on the street, homeless folks needing care (often brought in by police for mental health issues), and, unfortunately, an abundance of malpractice lawyers. I am old enough to retire, but on most days, I still love my job and the team that I work with.
"Dangerously Stoic", no truer words
I count myself as one of the fortunate few who can retrain; I am a PA who has done 14 years of Emergency Medicine and I finally cut back my hours and went into Urgent Care. When Urgent Care became untenable, I am now retraining in Orthopedic Spine surgery. Orthospine is like night and day compared to Emergency Medicine. I am totally amazed. I think most of us in the ER have a kind of Stockholm syndrome. I catch myself missing it and may end up picking up some PRN shifts but it is nothing close to the way it was even five years ago. I think the Covid pandemic was a tipping point and administrators have discovered that they can get away with chronically understaffing. It is very sad and I wonder how long it’s going to take for all of this to totally crash and burn.
It is a great article. And unfortunately still so true a year later. I've lost track of the number of days this year my hospital - a large, Level 1 trauma center has been over 110% capacity with so many holds in the ED. I don't know what the solution is either, but my fear is that things are going to get much worse before they get better....
I am retired after 30 years in Emergency Medicine. I refuse to watch any medical shows. I do not watch any shows with trauma or death. I thought it was just me!