I've a lot of doctors bitching about their working conditions. i don't have enough PPE, etc. No shit you are short on supplies. you didn't stock up and prepare for an emergency. everywhere is short on supplies because china confiscated everything meant for US shipment.
Some hospital systems are even seeking a universal DNR initiative for SARS-CoV-2 patients that allows them to DNR all patients without family consent and regardless of age. because they are afraid of catching the disease.
i get that the situation sucks, but these people have been on the gravy train for decades, profiting from our misfortune, and the second shit hits the fan and its time for them to sack up and show they deserve their elevated social stature and class the turn into whiny bitches
you don't see cops and firemen acting like this when shit hits the fan. they do their job...they go above and beyond...and then say i'm not hero...anyone would do this for people in need.
so suck it shitty doctors. you've had it too good for too long.
disclaimer...i don't think all doctors are like this.
So... I’m a doctor in the middle of the country. We are doing our best to prepare for a big surge of critically ill patients. We have had to adjust our use of PPE so that the limited supplies we have are not completely depleted. I have literally never in a 15-year-career needed an N95 mask. I have worn one every day I have been working since this started. So you can see how equipment that we rarely use (and therefore keep lower stock) could easily run out. With out that critical equipment we are putting ourselves at high risk of contracting a virus that may have a very high mortality and morbidity.
It’s laughable and a little sad that you think that we are on some kind of gravy train. Perhaps that was true two generations ago, but not now. It is true that we are compensated more when compared to national averages, but please remember the time and financial commitment we made to do this job. Also don’t forget the risk we take when one mistake can cost a life - even if no mistake happens some patients still die and there is nothing we can do but try everything humanly possible and still lose someone’s mom, brother or child. Then someone sues you even though you know you did everything right... or did you? Try sleeping knowing that if the lawyers win they could take your future and your families future. (I have luckily never been sued, btw).
I agree that blanket DNR statements are ethically wrong. But that is about the only thing I agree with in your post.
We, as a profession, are scared and rattled by this. We want to help our patients and help them in the long run too. Most of us feel like pawns to the government and insurance companies (who both are constantly threatening pay reductions with more work required), we feel like pawns to hospitals (who are really to blame for stock-piling or under-stocking - my hospital is a good one I think, but many are predatory and for-profit), and we feel like pawns to bureaucrats (who give us nonsensical regulations with out any clinical knowledge).
I really see no reason to hate on doctors or nurses working in this crisis. Supply chain issues are due to governmental/insurance company/hospital bureaucracies that are run by dudes in suits, not by doctors in scrubs. I can only hope that this is another swamp that gets drained by the MAGA movement and gets back to letting us care for people safely and fairly.
i think i gave the impression i think there more bad than good doctors. or even that there is a large minority.
i was venting a bit because of a few vocal whiners.
i think the time for vicious review of the clusterfuck at hand is after the events are under some control.
i expect hospital administrators and doctors to say things like "things are tough, but we're managing with what we have". or "the situation is not ideal but we are working out procedures to balance risk with care as best we can"
Hey, sooooooooo... any real news from the front lines?
Yeah, I’m in the Midwest. We’re planning for the surge, but my hospital only has 2 positive patients rn. We are partnering with local businesses to provide face shields, and hand sanitizer among other things. A lot of providers are pretty scared an nervous. I say they are watching too much of the fake news. For us it’s get ready and wait.