Cleaning Toilet Bowls
“In the period where I had to live the life of a citizen – a life where, like everybody else, I did tons of laundry and cleaned toilet bowls, changed hundreds of diapers and nursed children – I learned a lot.”
- Patti Smith
I had a fairly crappy (pun intended) day today. I’m stressed, frustrated and ambivalent.
I just got home from a fairly long day at the hospital. But sometimes I feel a lot better when I rant “out loud.” So please excuse me while I verbally relieve myself right now (pun also intended).
It really sucks when:
1. You have a thousand patients who need to be discharged and you work your fingers to nubs trying to get them discharged all day long and by the end of the day no one has left.
2. You can’t just write an order and expect that it will get done.
3. You have to spend an hour on the phone with an insurance rep explaining why they need to pay for a nursing home for your patient.
4. You get told by a social worker that you don’t care enough about your patients or try to understand the big picture and that you must have never worked outside of medicine. Seriously?!!!!! Are you kidding me???!!! ME?!!! If they only knew…..
5. Someone accidentally cancels a very important order that you have written TWICE.
6. You get yelled at by a fellow (specialist) for something that is 100% not your fault.
7. You have to discharge a patient home when they really need a nursing home.
8. Families have no interest in their loved ones in the hospital.
9. You can’t get a procedure for a patient because they have a contraindication for it but the contraindication is the reason they need the procedure in the first place.
10. There is a line for the bathroom and you really, really, really need to go.
That is all. I feel better.
Photo: Taken on my walk home from the hospital today.