The degradation and devaluation of nurses

Conditions
September 19, 2021

Where do I begin? Maybe at the beginning.

Let’s start with the degradation and devaluation of nurses across this country.

For decades, I lived the devaluing of nurses. Daily huddles from our nurse managers, ER nurses, ICU nurses, and behavioral health nurses. Emails and huddles about downsizing. Nurse-patient ratios. Decreasing nursing staff and increasing patients. ICU nurses typically had a 2:1 ratio and, depending on the patient’s acuity, a 1:1 ratio. But …

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The fundamental question that encircles the whole practice of psychiatry

Conditions
September 19, 2021

Mary (identifying information changed) was extremely pleasant, to say the least.

By the time I met her on the senior unit, she had seemingly befriended even the orneriest of our geriatric patients. She wandered and danced about the unit, speaking with each fellow patient she encountered in a style one nurse called “cheerfully mad.”

Her strategy, maximalist and crude but stunningly effective, was to talk your ear off in a joyful stream …

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Where does the joy and meaning in medicine dwell? [PODCAST]

Podcast
September 18, 2021
YouTube video

“The same question could be asked about the joy and meaning in medicine. Where does it dwell? And the answer may be the same. It dwells wherever we choose to let joy and meaning in medicine into our physician-healer lives.

As I look back upon my career, it saddens me to …

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The unvaccinated are not difficult patients

Physician
September 18, 2021

We’re getting into trouble. With headlines like “Why I am angry” and “Burnout rates at an all-time high,” physicians need to take a moment and breath. Unvaccinated people are presenting as very difficult patients that physicians dread.

In his landmark article, “Taking Care of the Hateful Patient,” Dr. James Groves highlighted four distinct patient types that doctors shrink from.  Hateful patients are noted to cause negative feelings in …

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Who needs scientists? It’s not like we listen to them anyway. [PODCAST]

Podcast
September 17, 2021
YouTube video

“I am a proud science-trained medical doctor and concerned mother. I am not going to remain silent when the biggest tragedies are yet to hit earth yet. Like seriously, I do not want to become like the dinosaurs. History wasn’t too kind to them. Just saying. Scientists say the worst …

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There is nothing soft about “soft skills”

Physician
September 17, 2021

“Soft skills get little respect, but they will make or break your career.”
– Peggy Klaus

In the late 1960s, the U.S. Army created the term “soft skills” to refer to any skill that does not employ the use of machinery. “The military realized that many important activities were included within this category, and in fact, the social skills necessary to lead groups, motivate soldiers, and win wars were encompassed by skills …

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Dying after leaving against medical advice [PODCAST]

Podcast
September 16, 2021
YouTube video

“This is where we are: Hospitalizations rising, new variants that are more infectious, and many people believing that this is all a hoax, or that millions of people have conspired together to make injections that harm people rather than helping them. Patients leaving AMA and dying because there’s no trust …

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Take back the power and joy of being a doctor [PODCAST]

Podcast
September 15, 2021
YouTube video

“What can we control? Our behavior and our responses to circumstances. Focusing on what is in our power to control and putting all our energy and efforts in the right places and for the right reasons seems to be a step in the right direction to make positive changes and …

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Eradicate the disability tax, before it’s too late [PODCAST]

Podcast
September 14, 2021
YouTube video

“Some may say that we all come into this world with our own luck, and if we end up having to endure a disability, then other people in society should not be held financially responsible. To that I say, do we not have a moral imperative to ensure that we …

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How do we explain the unexplainable? Are there words for the things we’ve experienced?

Conditions
September 14, 2021

I’m usually good with words. The last year and a half of being a “front line nurse” has left me struggling to find the words. The frustration, anger, trauma, and sadness have so muddied my mind that I find it hard to sort through all of the complexities and put a name to them.

A patient told me the other day, “I know at least 60 people who have had COVID, …

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No one is in charge of the free-for-all that is U.S. health care

Policy
September 14, 2021

During these solemn high holy days of repentance and reckoning, millions of Jews around the world beseech God to stop COVID-19 from spreading and ending lives.  Although it can be soothing and reassuring to believe that the universe is governed by a supreme being who listens and responds to the prayers of sentient human beings, the last 19 months suggest to me that “no one up there is listening or …

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To my fellow physicians who are struggling with suicidal ideation

Physician
September 14, 2021

Thanks for gathering today in this anonymous detached space. Since it’s unlikely that we’ll ever publicly convene in a circle on metal folding chairs, I’m reaching out through this letter. You can peruse this in private and perhaps see a piece of yourself here.

As a non-practicing physician who speaks openly about my decades of suicidal ideations, I know there’s a thirst for connection on this topic. Colleagues pull me aside …

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Why physician-specialized private counseling practices are important [PODCAST]

Podcast
September 13, 2021
YouTube video

“Attending physicians struggling with a mental health issue should consider contacting a counselor first, rather than a department head or employer resource. A counselor can assess the mental health issue, offer treatment recommendations, and provide therapy that meets the physician’s needs – all while protecting that person’s privacy. Mental health …

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Stanford Center for Continuing Medical Education launches innovative Physician Leadership Certificate Program

Sponsored
September 13, 2021

This article is sponsored by the Stanford Medicine Physician Leadership Certificate Program.

In William Shakespeare’s often-quoted speech from As You Like It, we are advised:

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one …

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Is it a badge of honor to refuse the vaccine but choose to die?

Conditions
September 13, 2021

You know that if you don’t get vaccinated and you don’t wear a mask, you potentially will die.

You go to super spreader events, big groups at beaches, football games, baseball games … loads of people laughing and clapping, and shoulder to shoulder.

Your refusal of the mask and COVID vaccination almost seems like a passage. Beating your chest. The survivor. It won’t happen to me.

Until you can’t breathe anymore. Delta doesn’t …

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An emergency medicine life [PODCAST]

Podcast
September 12, 2021
YouTube video

“I called my wife of 31 days, anxious and dazed. I told her that the pace I was on was crushing me. I told her I had done seven admits since 5 p.m. and taken floor calls, too. It was not yet midnight. I told her I don’t know if …

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How becoming a mother made me a pediatrician

Physician
September 12, 2021

For years, I hated when patients would ask if I had children. I consider myself to be a good pediatrician and trained at a highly rated medical school and residency. I work hard and I care for my patients. I can, however, be socially awkward and did not start dating until later in life. At its most innocent, the question triggered inadequacies about my social and personal life. At its …

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Words of advice from a chief resident [PODCAST]

Podcast
September 11, 2021
YouTube video

“Chiefs, remember, one of those interns is going to fill your shoes in a few years. They may model you in that role, so you want to raise them well! As a former chief resident, I have lots of pearls for those entering residency. However, what I will tell you …

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