Excellent writing. I understand so much of what you've said. I was an ICU and ER nurse for many years. The best way forward is to revamp our entire health care model from crisis care to preventive care. I spent years in the ICU, surrounded by ventilators and grief, fighting for lives already slipping away. It broke my heart, but it woke me up. Health shouldn’t begin in crisis. It begins in the quiet: in the tea you sip, the herbs you grow, the daily walks you take.
We need to live and practice this with everyone. I am in my retirement years now and write about preventative health to teach others. It's my small part. But I am aware we are up against some powerful money-making machines. Health is not complicated, but healthcare is because it's a huge moneymaker. Preventive care and natural remedies are only profitable for the patient.
Thanks Mike for articulating what most of us in Emergency Medicine feel on a daily basis. This profession takes an incredible toll on our bodies, mind and soul. The thrill of the profession is intoxicating but like all intoxicants eventually the toxicity comes through. About 10 years ago (when I had been in practice for 20 years) I made a list of EM doctors, Nurses, PAs, and EMS personnel who had major life altering events. Off the top of my head I realized that I could count 16 people who I had worked with who had either ended up in rehab, attempted or committed suicide, were facing criminal/legal charges, and/or upended their family life (divorce,affairs,etc).
Yet we continue to come in to the department to bang out another shift.
Continue to tell our story. Continue to do the good work.
Sometimes we get too used to seeing doctors as superheroes,but the truth is, anyone can break under enough pressure.Thank you for writing this.Do you think there's still a way to keep those who still want to stay in this system?
God bless you for going there and being there. Perhaps ask a prayer group to specifically pray for you and your colleagues each of your shifts. It would be good work to have.
Excellent writing. I understand so much of what you've said. I was an ICU and ER nurse for many years. The best way forward is to revamp our entire health care model from crisis care to preventive care. I spent years in the ICU, surrounded by ventilators and grief, fighting for lives already slipping away. It broke my heart, but it woke me up. Health shouldn’t begin in crisis. It begins in the quiet: in the tea you sip, the herbs you grow, the daily walks you take.
We need to live and practice this with everyone. I am in my retirement years now and write about preventative health to teach others. It's my small part. But I am aware we are up against some powerful money-making machines. Health is not complicated, but healthcare is because it's a huge moneymaker. Preventive care and natural remedies are only profitable for the patient.
Thanks Mike for articulating what most of us in Emergency Medicine feel on a daily basis. This profession takes an incredible toll on our bodies, mind and soul. The thrill of the profession is intoxicating but like all intoxicants eventually the toxicity comes through. About 10 years ago (when I had been in practice for 20 years) I made a list of EM doctors, Nurses, PAs, and EMS personnel who had major life altering events. Off the top of my head I realized that I could count 16 people who I had worked with who had either ended up in rehab, attempted or committed suicide, were facing criminal/legal charges, and/or upended their family life (divorce,affairs,etc).
Yet we continue to come in to the department to bang out another shift.
Continue to tell our story. Continue to do the good work.
Sometimes we get too used to seeing doctors as superheroes,but the truth is, anyone can break under enough pressure.Thank you for writing this.Do you think there's still a way to keep those who still want to stay in this system?
God bless you for going there and being there. Perhaps ask a prayer group to specifically pray for you and your colleagues each of your shifts. It would be good work to have.