- Joined
- Feb 28, 2008
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- 30
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As a surgical resident in NY, I have seen the true ugly side of medicine. There are several inherent problems in this city.
For one, in general the nursing staff is a serious problem in these hospitals. Some of the nurses just don't give a ****. And they get away with it. Numerous times, I have found myself in a frustrating situation where the nurse refused to do her job or to carry it out efficiently because she did just didn't care. And notice to the higher above did not accomplish anything. As a resident, I continously feel as if I have very little power. And, it hurts patient care. And they get away with it because the administration in these hospitals are so powerful, are given so much authority and bend to the will of the nursing union that it seems its a loosing battle. Even the attendings feel powerless. Which brings me to my next point.
The physicians in this state have really lost their balls. Where is their lobby? Who represents them in these hospitals? They seem to have been beat down. What happened in this state? I now see surgical attendings at the mercy of the administrators, constantly fighting some bull**** new guidelines in the hospitals. The attendings seem so frustrated and so unhappy. It really depresses me. Even in the OR where the surgeon is supposed to be somebody, I have gradually seen a state of decline in their status. A typical phrase that I hear in the OR these day..."Doc, you can't start until we all agree on the timeout". Okay, I understand, it's about safety, but, does it really have to be so overbearing to have some nurse literaly telling the surgeon when he or she can start the case?
Even some attendings themselves admit that they are now more dissatisfied with their jobs than ever. They don't want to do big cases anymore because it's just not worth it. The risk of lawsuit and decreased reimbursement including the lack of respect and automony by the hospital administration has taken its toll. Of course, this isn't so much just with NY, as is a nation wide problem, but I swear that the general atmosphere was significantly different in the west coast than it is found here in NY.
And finally, I have never seen a general lack of respect for interns and residents in other states as I have seen in New york programs. People who run these programs, especially the ones I've seen, seem to think that can get away with things that would be absolutely intolerable in other sector of society. I was told specifically by my DME one time that superiors can say anything they want to residents and it would be okay, because this is residency. WTF. We put up with this because we have to. Because we sacrifice for the chance to be somebody in the future. But, jesus, how much **** can someone swallow? It seems to me that someday, this has to change. We can't allow this to keep occurring over and over again and accept that its okay. Because, let's face it, the rewards aren't there anymore as there used to be. As an attending we are going to face an incredible amount of obstacles that those before us did not have to deal with.
I just needed to vent. I got the urge to write and so there it is. Now I can go to bed and get up and do this **** for another day.
For one, in general the nursing staff is a serious problem in these hospitals. Some of the nurses just don't give a ****. And they get away with it. Numerous times, I have found myself in a frustrating situation where the nurse refused to do her job or to carry it out efficiently because she did just didn't care. And notice to the higher above did not accomplish anything. As a resident, I continously feel as if I have very little power. And, it hurts patient care. And they get away with it because the administration in these hospitals are so powerful, are given so much authority and bend to the will of the nursing union that it seems its a loosing battle. Even the attendings feel powerless. Which brings me to my next point.
The physicians in this state have really lost their balls. Where is their lobby? Who represents them in these hospitals? They seem to have been beat down. What happened in this state? I now see surgical attendings at the mercy of the administrators, constantly fighting some bull**** new guidelines in the hospitals. The attendings seem so frustrated and so unhappy. It really depresses me. Even in the OR where the surgeon is supposed to be somebody, I have gradually seen a state of decline in their status. A typical phrase that I hear in the OR these day..."Doc, you can't start until we all agree on the timeout". Okay, I understand, it's about safety, but, does it really have to be so overbearing to have some nurse literaly telling the surgeon when he or she can start the case?
Even some attendings themselves admit that they are now more dissatisfied with their jobs than ever. They don't want to do big cases anymore because it's just not worth it. The risk of lawsuit and decreased reimbursement including the lack of respect and automony by the hospital administration has taken its toll. Of course, this isn't so much just with NY, as is a nation wide problem, but I swear that the general atmosphere was significantly different in the west coast than it is found here in NY.
And finally, I have never seen a general lack of respect for interns and residents in other states as I have seen in New york programs. People who run these programs, especially the ones I've seen, seem to think that can get away with things that would be absolutely intolerable in other sector of society. I was told specifically by my DME one time that superiors can say anything they want to residents and it would be okay, because this is residency. WTF. We put up with this because we have to. Because we sacrifice for the chance to be somebody in the future. But, jesus, how much **** can someone swallow? It seems to me that someday, this has to change. We can't allow this to keep occurring over and over again and accept that its okay. Because, let's face it, the rewards aren't there anymore as there used to be. As an attending we are going to face an incredible amount of obstacles that those before us did not have to deal with.
I just needed to vent. I got the urge to write and so there it is. Now I can go to bed and get up and do this **** for another day.
