With the epidemic in health care of overwork, stress, and burnout, psychological safety is a crucial factor in achieving the highest levels of quality of care and quality of work environment. While simple in concept, psychological safety is also quite …
Category: KevinMD
Data has become a four-letter word in primary care
We primary care physicians hate data. Taken on their own, numbers are benign, but when we hear the word “data,” physicians are reminded of a litany of related issues that make our lives far more difficult: checkboxes. Regulatory compliance….
Sexual recovery after cancer treatment
The couple that entered my office on a warm fall day seemed out of sorts. She looked nervous, and he looked irritated. Before he sat down I heard why he felt that way: “I don’t even know why we’re here.“ I explained briefly what my role is but this did…
Sexual recovery after cancer treatment
The couple that entered my office on a warm fall day seemed out of sorts. She looked nervous, and he looked irritated. Before he sat down I heard why he felt that way: “I don’t even know why we’re here.“ I explained briefly what my role is but this did…
An ode to a cadaver
It is easy to feel the gravity that accompanies the act of caring for those whose souls are still stuck to the surface of the earth. Their nerves still feel. Their skin still bleeds. Their eyes blink, and their hearts beat. Their chests rise and fall a…
Our healers need healing
I woke up to him, pacing the bedroom. Within an hour, I was pacing the ER at his bedside. Our experience at one of the country’s best-ranked hospitals lasted only three days before we were discharged home. What led us there will last a lifetime i…
Patients: Be proactive in your health care
If you’ve ever been in the hospital for a surgery, you probably had a resident speak to you about the procedure; you were presented a laundry list of risks, the benefits mentioned, asked if everything was understood. And finally, you initial in several…
A physician’s plea to patients
I am a cardiac anesthesiologist. I meet most patients I care for minutes before I take them to the operating room and render them unconscious. I breathe for them, administer pain medicine and drugs to give them amnesia, and I keep their hearts, lungs, …
How to make compassion your personal pain reliever
Five months ago, “little kids” started visiting my father-in-law, stealing things. The hallucinations and dementia progressed, and we were forced to move him to a memory care unit. Memory care unit is the polite term for a lockup unit for p…
This pediatrician gives her kids candy on Halloween. Here are 7 guilt-free candy tips.
I’m a pediatrician, mom of three. And to many, this may come as a surprise, but yes, I give my kids candy on Halloween. And I don’t mean the organic, gluten-free, non-GMO, no artificial colors or flavoring, good for you “treats.”…
