Well if we are being pedantic i was angry after Chugs generalised accusations against er nurses which came before my generalised accusations. Oh no. Its he said she said. I still apologise to Chugs but i was responding to my WHOLE profession being judged in a negative way which is just as unfair as how SOME drug users get treated in hospitals.Hopefully my last words in this thread.
I'll apologise now. I have like 40 years of resentment and anger over whats happened. But I don't want you to think one incident over twenty years ago has embittered me. I've never had the opportunity to say any of this so unfortunately your a punching bag today. I've tried to tone it down and I certainly don't want a war. But you have to acknowledge that there are some deeply rooted problems in the health system and its not just the patients, poor funding and conditions that are the cause. There are problems with nurses and doctors as well.
Its something that is almost taboo. No one wants to talk about it.
My problem isn't just with ER departments either. Its not only because a RPA ER Triage nurse almost allowed me to die. There are a litany of problems. In particular a second incident involving several nurses and a baby. It is extremely upsetting and personal and I won't be telling the whole story. Suffices to say I caught these nurses lying, on video, bareface red handed your caught sort of thing. Certain decisions were made, hundreds of thousands of dollars of resources, the baby was basically imprisoned into the system for several weeks because of these lies.
The fact that they were prepared to fuck with children just to attack and punish the people involved is terribly upsetting especially after other nurses and doctors confirmed that it was all a waste of money and time.
I've spent more time in hospital then most people. Sick kids, cancer, broken bones, dislocations, Tuberculosis, a bug/tick in ears, deep cuts, concussion, twisted testicles, chest pains, glandular fever, and a ton of gastro and whole heap of other shit in between.
Seriously wierd shit happens to me (though not all of the above is me). So I've observed a few things.
So the firstly. You deal with the public. I deal with the public. I've had people pull knives on me, I've literally had several thousand people cry and scream at me (and not just for a few mins). In the last 20 years I've probably spoken to around 80,000 or more people . In deeply difficult, complex and stressful situations involving large amounts of money and these people's financial ruin.
Having people be rude to you isn't a justification to be rude to them. In fact i find the opposite applies. in all those situations (bar maybe 2 or 3) I've talked them down. Everyone has a story and if you take the time to listen at the end of your time with the person they're so upset and mortified at their behaviour that they tend back off from their original demands (no matter how justified they are). The point being is that the nurses and doctors in NSW have an aggressive contempt for everyone and anyone, with a belief that there all underpaid, overworked and constantly abused. And its not always the case.
The underpaid/overworked argument. I was underpaid for years. I worked on average 60 hour weeks, and would easily find myself doing 70-90 hour weeks (shit i've done a couple hundred hour weeks) - all unpaid OT. On top of travelling interstate (which wears thin like after the first trip) extensively. But you know it was ultimately my choice. If you don't want to do it then don't do it. But don't make other people suffer for your choice.
And your wages. I just checked.
Holy shit you guys get paid. SO many benefits, overtime rates. (Check page 85 out) And a nurse who had say done 5 years....getting a base of $70k. Shit a 8th year nurse gets over $100k. WTF. And that's public service. You move to private practice or hospital, you get more. If I had gotten $70k a year at 23 i would have been laughin.
And doctors and overwork. I know there is a problem but holy shit the root cause is the AMA and the speciality colleges who put requirements and costs, into those courses into the stratosphere so as to limit supply of doctors and specialists in the market. The huge benefit is the 6 and 7 figure incomes that specialists can earn because there are 1000 patients to 1 doctor. But the biggest problem is that it means that junior doctors, and those doing their residencies have to work a ridiculous number of hours.
Its not the public fault. Its the AMA fault and instead of taking it out on the public you guys should be picketing the AMA to get it changed. You don't need a TER (or whatever it is) of 99 to be a doctor. Its fucking ridiculous.
Attitude. I get that you all went to university and deserve respect because you save lives. And I know you all have seen blood and guts, literally. But when someone comes into hospital they have only one experience. The pain and misery they're in. There is one thing I've learnt in life is that people have terrible communication skills and little to no empathy. They don't know that you've seen it ten thousand times and that there not going to die.
Fear can do some weird stuff to people and yet it seems to me when I've watch nurses and doctors interact with patients in this position that treating them like a child, like their fucking dirt is the standard operating procedure. And the racism i've seen. Just because they don't speak english doesn't make them fucking stupid.
I've almost smashed a nurse for disgusting racism she showed a patient in a ER once. She treated them like absolute dirt. Like they were dumb as fucking bricks when all that was required was translation. Which another patient provided. The way nurses talk to people you'd think they believe they're gods or something.
But here is the kicker. If someone is rude to you and you shoot right back your just reaffirming their belief, poor attitude and aggression. It is my unfortunate experience that nurses believe that their poor salary (see above) and conditions gives them the right to be jerks to their customers.
Your right, always and the patient is wrong, always is a big problem. Yes I understand its frustrating you went to school for six years and someone googled something but if you guys maybe communicated a bit better about this problem rather then bitching and acting aggressively then you might find the public would treat you better.
Communication. I've spent thousands of hours in hospitals. And without fail simple things like communicating seems to be beyond nurses and doctors. Like the simple act of advising a patient that they may have to wait an hour after being told they'll be seeing the doctor in exam room 1 would be nice. I cannot tell you how many times I've had to chase down a nurse to only find out that what we were waiting on had come several hours before but they had been too busy gossiping.
Waiting for medications to be transferred, waiting for appointments to be kept. In fact keeping an appointment in NSW Health is almost unheard of. And don't think i'm just talking about ER. Every fricken unit and not just in hospitals. Clinics, all over the place are the same.
The problem is that neither doctors nor nurses think they have any case to answer. If I was late for my job because of traffic my boss would tell me to leave earlier. The same with appointments. If emergencies keep happening then don't book so many appointments.
And certificates, referrals and other documentation. Even outside of ER waiting for documents to be drafted is like asking for essay to be written. I've watched doctors hide at the nurses stations, i've seen nurses bitching, standing around doing fuck all. It just pisses me off so much because its so blatant.
Laziness is a big problem. something to discuss another day. Nonetheless combing all of those problems together and you get a monster.
I absolutely dread going into hospitals. My partner has banned me from saying more then then hello and goodbye. Even she can't understand why nurses take one look at me and want to fuck my shit up. But it happens.
