I was so excited about today. For 90 % of the day, I was blessed.
I had a good day at work. I met with a new CF patient who had a very stressed out mother....but, after sharing my care, concern, and knowledge with her, things improved.
It was all uphill from there...until I got called over to help in another clinic. While I was trying to get this sweet little baby checked in to see the doctor, the father asked me if a few procedures would happen that day...I quickly responded no, that we didn't do "that" procedure in our clinic, this would just be a consult to discuss the procedure and I could assure him that he actually didn't want this certain procedure to be performed on his child in our clinic.
I thought I had explained myself well.....and then, I could see that he really didn't like my answer or my explanation. He cursed at me...twice....continued cursing under his breath, to his wife, etc. I put my big girl panties on and continued my entire check-in process by only speaking to the baby...afterall, he was much more pleasant than his father.
The whole incident put me in a pretty bad mood...a "why am I here caring for your child while someone else cares for my child if you are so rude" moment. Unfortunately, these moments seem to come in my nursing profession more and more often these days. I am meant to be a nurse, but I am not meant to be the point of ridicule. I will stop short of all that I want to say, but I will say that our healthcare system is SO messed up. I want people to have good quality healthcare and I especially want children and disabled people to have good quality healthcare but take it from someone who has watched healthcare change over the past 9 years...it is not looking good.
People think health care is a glamourous job. I see people complain ALL the time on facebook and other news media about the wait at doctor's offices, the cost of healthcare, etc. I just saw this week someone complain about being referred to a highly trained doctor at a teaching hospital...this doctor wanted him to follow up every few weeks for a heart condition...his response was that the only reason they want to see him back is to get his money....they must think he is made of money....doctors only want to make money, being that they make so much after all.
Let me point this out....how long did you go to school? I went to school for 5 1/2 years. My husband went to school for 5 years. A few of my friends have their masters and went for 6 years. My cousin has a 4 year degree, a masters in history and went to law school....9 years. The doctors I work with have an undergraduate degree, spent 4 years in medical school, spent 3 years in a residency and then spent additional time specializing in fellowships, doing research, etc....your most basic doctor has 11 years under their belt...11....if they are anything more than a primary care doctor, it is a lot more than that! The doctors I work with are in clinic nearly every day and are on-call every other week....on call 24/7 every other week....that is holidays, weekends, nights....all the time. They have families just like us. They miss important events. They miss birthdays and soccer games and date nights...all for their patients. The doctors I work with don't make a lot of money....sure, there are doctors bringing in the big bucks...surgeons...especially those who are really specialized....like a neurosurgeon....but guess what, he went to school longer and he is going to operate on your brain....what do you think he should earn...$10 an hour!?!?!?
The doctor I work with drives a 10 year old (maybe older) straight drive Honda accord...how is that for glamour? Her husband is a special education teacher.
Doctors don't want to see you for unnecessary visits...they want to see you again because it is their job. If you complain of chest pain, they are going to want to see you again plain and simple. Guess what, if they don't see you frequently enough and they miss something, they may get sued...by you, the same person complaining about how often you want to see them....sheesh!
Next time you sit in a doctor's office, waiting too long to see the nurse and doctor, please remember that they are doing their best. I can promise you they aren't sitting back behind those doors playing cards or painting their nails...they are seeing a patient. The budget cuts that have been made force them to see more patients in the same amount of time. They are doing the best they can. It is possible that the person that is taking up their time, has a problem that is worse than yours...maybe they just found out their child had a chronic, life shortening disease; maybe they their husband is deployed and they just needed to chat a little longer....maybe the doctor is doing the very best they can to care for the patient that is sitting right in front of them and maybe, just maybe, they will do the same for you once you get back to see them.
Finally, get to your appointment on time....and if you show up late, don't complain to me!
Now, I have gotten completely off topic...the truth is, I was actually planning to write about prayer and our discussion of prayer in our Lenten study tonight. I'll talk about that tomorrow.
I will share one thing I read today, it was perfect timing for me:
"You have the exact qualities God knew your kids would need in a mother. So, each day, hold up your willingness and ask God to make you the best version of you that you can possibly be."
And, I wasn't doing so great with my Lenten pledge to decrease my time on Facebook, so thanks to the urging by a friend, I deleted the app off of my phone...bye bye facebook!
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