Everyone called her “Maggie,” which was short for Magnolia. She acquired that nickname because she was from the Deep South, which made her a standout in New York. Her name was really Linda. Maggie seemed to gravitate to the Irish in New York City, where she worked as a nurse. Not that she had a drop of Irish in her. But she enjoyed her pals, most of whom were undocumented …
A scandalous prank, as told by a social worker
It is all about the nurses and the respiratory therapists. I watch countless brave actions every day in the ICU. These are people who, in “normal” times, spend nights, weekends, and holidays caring for the sickest of the sick. They are modestly paid, and often have little control over their schedules. They balance a stream of demands from doctors, patients, families, and an insatiable electronic medical record that demands constant …
COVID-19: Nurses and the respiratory therapists are truly the brave
Last night, a cable news host raised an anguished alarm about the crisis of the pandemic in America’s nursing homes. It resonated. As a physician, I have worked in those places across the U.S. From the pastoral rural to the gritty inner city. Faces of people and scenes inside those walls flashed before my eyes.
Caregivers. They are the ones who ride the buses and subways or drive their decades-old vehicles …
We must not forget the caregivers during the pandemic
As death tolls rise from the global spread of a novel coronavirus, I have observed an increase in anxiety among my patients.
I am writing this article to provide physicians with tips on how to help their patients cope with anxiety from the coronavirus.
1. Validate their anxiety
To some degree, an increase in anxiety is appropriate under the current circumstances. Anxiety increases when we are confronted with threats to our wellbeing. The …
6 ways to help your patients cope with anxiety from coronavirus
I was about to step out for an evening shift when I caught a small quiver in my wife’s lip as she was saying good-bye. This drew me up short. I could tell that she was worried about me; it occurred to me she had a point.
I’d had about a week off, and in that time, my co-workers had begun seeing more and more COVID-19 patients. Now, it was my …
My wife was worried as I left for the ER. She had a point.
A troubling type of social media post I’ve recently seen from providers (often not directly taking care of any COVID-19 patients) is one of excitement at the prospect for the medical community coming together to defeat this invisible foe. This mentality seems to say that as health care providers, we should all rush to the frontlines as it’s a commendable action. Maybe these sentiments are posted because morale is low, …
Doctors shouldn’t feel ashamed for wanting to protect themselves or their family
One needs to look no further than any mainstream news or social media outlet to realize that our public health system and hospitals are overwhelmed. Whether it be the lack of adequate testing reagents to properly monitor the current COVID-19 pandemic or the lack of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators to safely care for our sick, our nation’s health care system is being pushed to the brink. As hospitals …
Preparing for the next pandemic: Why a one-country approach is needed
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is considered a powerful document at present, more than 70 years after it was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at its 3rd session on December 10, 1948, in Paris, France.
Since its creation, it is currently available in 360 languages and it is no surprise that it is the most translated document in the world. It is not an exaggeration to refer to it …
Human rights and social inequity issues are magnified by COVID-19
America greatly stands to benefit from a universal face mask policy that mandates face coverings in public. Understandably, adoption of such a policy raises concerns, including:
Part of a national universal mask policy …
The concerns and considerations of implementing a universal mask policy
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed many vulnerabilities in the U.S. health care system. While shortages of safety equipment and ventilators have been widely reported, the shortage of physicians and staff to manage patients in respiratory failure is also a major concern. Given the reported conditions throughout northern Italy with hospitals operating over capacity and exhausted medical personnel, the same concern arises in the United States. While some may be quick …
Coronavirus highlights why America needs a national medical license
For physicians, residency is the most critical time for growth in clinical and surgical skills, professionalism, and medical knowledge. Your residency training — for better or worse — shapes your future career as a physician. Your surgical technique, clinical decision making, and bedside manner are all, to some degree, a reflection of where you trained.
Interestingly enough, there are only two residency years with formal titles — the intern and chief …
The shift from a junior to a senior resident
Spanish Flu. Japanese Encephalitis. Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome. West Nile Virus. Wuhan Virus (and lately, the “Chinese Virus” as many have begun calling the pathogen that causes COVID-19: SARS-CoV-2).
What do these names all have in common, you might ask? Well, for one thing, they were constructed not by a strict scientific nomenclature, but by an aspect of the virus or disease that is inextricably linked to a facet of one’s …
What’s in a disease name, anyway? Everything.
I have had the privilege to serve alongside hundreds of nurses in the nearly 40 years since I started medical school. This includes inpatient and outpatient settings and 20 years of leading medical missions around the world. There are five amazing nurses in my family as well. I have learned from every nurse with whom I have served. This has made me a more compassionate, caring, and empathetic person, and …
How nurses made me a more compassionate and caring person, and a better physician
ADVERTISEMENT
As a health care system, we have united during the COVID-19 public health threat to embrace social distancing and “flatten the curve.” In order to conserve scarce resources and limit viral transmission, we health care providers have canceled elective surgeries, postponed health screenings, and moved patient encounters to online platforms. While we are fighting to save critically ill patients affected by the virus inside the hospital, we are attempting to …
Combating patient isolation: Breast cancer treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic
As I write this, we are in dark times. Over 23,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus, and there are half a million diagnosed cases – even with testing far from comprehensive. Most cities are on some sort of lockdown. Most of us have become hyperaware of hygiene and personal space in a way that only those thought of as germaphobes have – it’s now the norm. Individuals and businesses …
How a physician finds laughter during this dark time
This essay is for my colleagues. When I say “colleagues,” I am referring to all health care workers who are currently working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis or are engaging in patient care at any level. This might be an unconventional essay coming from a doctor, but I wanted to send out my thoughts and heartfelt wishes for the well-being of health care workers during this time. Health …
Health care workers during the COVID-19 crisis: superheroes or human-heroes?
You always knew they didn’t care about you. The administration, I mean. But you knew that going into it. It’s just four years that you have to endure until you can be respected, until you make the big bucks, until you’re treated like a human being. Four years is not that long.
But you knew this going into it. That they didn’t care. You’re just a resident. Now more than ever, …
You’re just the anesthesiology resident
When coronavirus exploded, my family was on vacation in Colorado. We played the news nonstop, and it was frightening. I’m a control freak, a planner, and thus my worries were nonstop. What were other hospitals doing to prepare as compared to my own? What were the plans to ration PPE? How was the morale at the place I’d been at almost daily for years?
I was angry, frustrated, and disappointed. Not …
Cowardice in the face of coronavirus
Everything feels like it’s happening out of a movie, mostly because we’ve all seen it before. Pandemic, Outbreak, even World War Z. It has never felt real, until it became real.
It became real when all of my friends from my pediatrics residency in New York became adult doctors, figuring out how to ventilate a 65 year old on the fly. It became real when my best …
When the pandemic became real to this physician
Viruses typically invade our bodies through an opening. Think gastrointestinal flu, COVID-19, AIDS. Our bones, however, are normally protected from any outside exposure, so they should be safe, right?
The short answer is yes and no. Of course, knowledge is power, and we need both right now, so here is a nuanced answer.
Patients with smallpox frequently complained of bone pain. Epidemics in Prague in 1891-1892, in Boston a decade later, in …
Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.
