You sigh as you see the name on the next chart. “Good grief, this poor woman,” you think as you place your hand on the doorknob. “Doctor, I really tried. I really tried this time!” she sobs. “Cheryl, I know you did. But yo…
Category: Psychiatry
Nurse’s whistle of hopelessness: a tale of a dangerous workplace with no safety measures
I finally found time after retirement to clean out my nurse’s book bag. It contained items such as a stethoscope, extra playing cards for patients, highlighters, various pens, a penlight, a notebook with important phone numbers throughout the hea…
Gratitude takes practice. How come health care workers aren’t better at it?
Like interest rates and food prices, burnout among health care providers continues to rise. From my perch—as a hospitalist in a large tertiary hospital—the sheer terror of the early days of the COVID pandemic has been replaced by a grinding fatigue fue…
A discussion on mental health during the holidays [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! In this episode, we welcome Jennifer Shaer, a pediatrician, to discuss the issue of physician suicide rates and how the holidays can impact mental health. Despite being one of the happiest …
The invisible graveyard of every physician’s career: Why every doctor needs a “badness” plan
As physicians, we all know what “badness” is in medicine. “Badness” is a word many physicians use to convey a painful, complicated, tragic, or adverse clinical experience. Badness is usually some bad, particularly emotional R…
Navigating gender identity confusion in a high-stress environment
As nurses in behavioral health, we were not well-versed in the field. After 33 years in ICU nursing, I left the unit expecting behavioral health to be an easier transition. However, the comparison between the two was like comparing apples to oranges. T…
TikTok takeover: How social media consumed my life [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! Join us on this episode, where we welcome Brian Boxer Wachler, an ophthalmologist and author of Influenced: The Impact of Social Media on Our Perception. During the COVID shutdowns, Brian h…
What does it mean when we say someone has died after a long illness?
My personal doctor and two of my cherished mentors died within the past several years, each “after a long illness,” according to their obituaries. Rock legend David Crosby (The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) recently died ̶…
What does it mean when we say someone has died after a long illness?
My personal doctor and two of my cherished mentors died within the past several years, each “after a long illness,” according to their obituaries. Rock legend David Crosby (The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) recently died ̶…
The pebble versus the rock: a case for mental health reform
What would you expect to see if you threw a pebble in a pond? You would likely see a ripple in the water, extending wider than the diameter of the pebble. Seeing a pebble drop into a pond and create ripples is always mesmerizing. It’s amazing to …
