If you have worked in the hospital setting for any length of time, you likely are aware of the physicians’ lounge. It’s the protected space where the hard-working medical staff can escape to catch a break or grab a hot beverage. The physicians…
Category: Policy
Why doctors crash planes
Physicians actually make good pilots. But, in 1966 they received a bad rap due to a report published by the FAA’s Chief of Aviation Medicine, Dr. Stanley Mohler. Mohler had a point. Physicians were crashing planes at a higher rate as opposed to the gen…
Nurses Week. Always and forever.
I have to work tonight. It’s Saturday. And I don’t want to go in. It’s springtime, the skies are blue, birds chirping, and the flowers show off their magnificent colors. But it’s Saturday. And along comes being a nurse. We have mandatory weekends, mand…
We need a Hippocratic Oath for administrators
The biggest change in medical practice that has occurred during my 25 years as a physician is the open acceptance of physician employment. Compared to this change, the ACA, EMRs, “Gorillacillins,” and the latest sepsis protocol, combined, a…
The problem with these specific words in health care
Words are powerful. So few symbols can evoke such deep feelings and rouse incredible emotion: “I have a dream.” Language is the achievement that makes us who we are. But while you, I and everyone else employ the same words to communicate sh…
Be mindful of the language we use in medicine
At LGBTQ health conferences, I am always impressed by how much care and consideration is given to providing a safer space for all who are present. For example, the check-in process typically involves a volunteer asking the attendee whether or not they …
How to choose the right rehab option after a hospital stay
This is the scenario. You (or your mother) were admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. On the third day a cheery continuing care nurse comes in and says, “You don’t have a fever, and the doctors feel you can be discharged to finish your course of ant…
Why is health insurance so unaffordable?
Honestly, I have never been a big fan of insurance. I am not much of a gambler, and paying for insurance feels like betting on my own misfortune. I have never purchased insurance for a cell phone or appliance. I would rather save the money and make an …
I speak for the nurses
“I would submit to you that those (small hospital nurses) probably do get breaks. They probably play cards for a considerable amount of the day.” – Maureen Walsh For the first ten years of my professional life, I was an inpatient nurse, first on …
What do we want our health care system to look like?
I think the time has come for us all to do a little more than put our 2 cents in. Our health care system is a mess, and while many of us fighting in the trenches and taking care of patients are working to make things better (despite the best efforts of…
