Things I hate to hear patients say:

[RustedFox]

and then they gas light you saying you can do things to change it...

Just received that email this week

Remind me to reply to this later on tomorrow.
Send me a PM, or a reply, or whatever.

I have something useful to say, but I need a nap.

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[WilcoWorld]

Remind me to reply to this later on tomorrow.
Send me a PM, or a reply, or whatever.

I have something useful to say, but I need a nap.

Here's your reminder @RustedFox

 

[Dred Pirate]

Remind me to reply to this later on tomorrow.
Send me a PM, or a reply, or whatever.

I have something useful to say, but I need a nap.

was just gonna post your reminder.

Actual conversation the other day
Mgmt - where hear you talk about burn out in the department - there are five things you can do to help reduce it (take vacation, meditation, et)

Me -(trying to be professional) I appreciate your efforts to address burnout- the items you list are all things I can do, none of them address the underlying reason why burnout occurs. What are you doing as mgmt to address the root cause?

Mgmt - I sounds like you are frustrated, we think you benefit by taking advantage of the ideas in the email.

Me - I suggest you look up the meaning of gaslighting and then we can continue this conversation

 

[WorkNoteEmergency]

was just gonna post your reminder.

Actual conversation the other day
Mgmt - where hear you talk about burn out in the department - there are five things you can do to help reduce it (take vacation, meditation, et)

Me -(trying to be professional) I appreciate your efforts to address burnout- the items you list are all things I can do, none of them address the underlying reason why burnout occurs. What are you doing as mgmt to address the root cause?

Mgmt - I sounds like you are frustrated, we think you benefit by taking advantage of the ideas in the email.

Me - I suggest you look up the meaning of gaslighting and then we can continue this conversation

You could take an extra 3 days off at Christmas (must use PTO or it will be unpaid). That’s what our management did last year to support budget cuts.

 

[RustedFox]

@WilcoWorld and @Dred Pirate - and to the general denizens of this forum.

So, I went to a lecture on burnout, "compassion fatigue", and related topics. This was invite-only, done via zoom. Last week sometime; I'm too tired to remember and don't care.

The master counselor/LCSW (or whatever appropriate degree she had; no shade thrown) offered to read us a section from an expert on this and similar matters. For brevity's sake, the reading hit all the same things you said about "mindfulness", "boundary setting", and other fluffy, intangible things that don't exist in our world. She then took responses/questions from the audience.

That was my cue. I let it rip. You guys know how creatively polemic I can be.

I asked who the author the reading was. I got my answer: "Melinda McDickerson" or whoever.

*breathe in*

"Ah. I see. Good. Well; you can tell Melinda McDickerson to take that page from her book, crumple it up into a ball, throw it in a garbage can, light the garbage can on fire, and fart on it. What you just read was a perfect play from the 'gaslighting physicians 101' playbook that every administrator has. In brief, it goes like this: 'Is burnout a problem with your physician staff? Tell them that its THEIR fault, and they're not up to the task.' "

I got pushback.

"Well, this is from an expert in the field of -

I cut the bish off immediately.

"Yeah, it's clear to every single one of us that it was written by an armchair psychiatrist, comfortable in their office, at a safe distance in time and space from any actual hospital or other healthcare facility, who has never worked in our environment or done our jobs - but by God, has the answer regarding what we should do about it. Forgive me when I say that Melinda McDickerson is what is wrong with America; someone with an opinion, who knows just enough to be dangerous - you know, like a politician who doesn't have boots on the ground but knows how we should be fighting our war on whatever."

I got applause. It felt good. Bish was speechless; had no idea where to go. Check and mate. Crickets for :30 seconds while we awaited her response.

"Well, this is just ONE manner in which it is suggested that robbledy-dobbledy-dobble..." nobody bothered to listen before they slowly dropped out of the zoom call.

It felt good.

Word to the kids out there: these seminars and forums and such that they offer you ... they're uniformly useless and demonstrate just how tone-deaf the other side is. Don't waste your time.

 

[sylvanthus]

@WilcoWorld and @Dred Pirate - and to the general denizens of this forum.

So, I went to a lecture on burnout, "compassion fatigue", and related topics. This was invite-only, done via zoom. Last week sometime; I'm too tired to remember and don't care.

The master counselor/LCSW (or whatever appropriate degree she had; no shade thrown) offered to read us a section from an expert on this and similar matters. For brevity's sake, the reading hit all the same things you said about "mindfulness", "boundary setting", and other fluffy, intangible things that don't exist in our world. She then took responses/questions from the audience.

That was my cue. I let it rip. You guys know how creatively polemic I can be.

I asked who the author the reading was. I got my answer: "Melinda McDickerson" or whoever.

*breathe in*

"Ah. I see. Good. Well; you can tell Melinda McDickerson to take that page from her book, crumple it up into a ball, throw it in a garbage can, light the garbage can on fire, and fart on it. What you just read was a perfect play from the 'gaslighting physicians 101' playbook that every administrator has. In brief, it goes like this: 'Is burnout a problem with your physician staff? Tell them that its THEIR fault, and they're not up to the task.' "

I got pushback.

"Well, this is from an expert in the field of -

I cut the bish off immediately.

"Yeah, it's clear to every single one of us that it was written by an armchair psychiatrist, comfortable in their office, at a safe distance in time and space from any actual hospital or other healthcare facility, who has never worked in our environment or done our jobs - but by God, has the answer regarding what we should do about it. Forgive me when I say that Melinda McDickerson is what is wrong with America; someone with an opinion, who knows just enough to be dangerous - you know, like a politician who doesn't have boots on the ground but knows how we should be fighting our war on whatever."

I got applause. It felt good. Bish was speechless; had no idea where to go. Check and mate. Crickets for :30 seconds while we awaited her response.

"Well, this is just ONE manner in which it is suggested that robbledy-dobbledy-dobble..." nobody bothered to listen before they slowly dropped out of the zoom call.

It felt good.

Word to the kids out there: these seminars and forums and such that they offer you ... they're uniformly useless and demonstrate just how tone-deaf the other side is. Don't waste your time.

I hope to one day regrow my balls, maybe when my loans are paid off. Until then I will live vicariously through you.

 

[Dred Pirate]

You could take an extra 3 days off at Christmas (must use PTO or it will be unpaid). That’s what our management did last year to support budget cuts.

honestly I would take unpaid time off (luckily I get a lot of PTO anyway and never feel short) - but that is also a BS of way of "helping" you,

and with boundary setting like @RustedFox mentioned in his eloquent rant I would have loved to see - that goes both ways- I mean, if you are a manger - do NOT text/call me when I am not there unless it is of a life and death situation (which for me is pretty damn rare to non-existent that their isn't another of the 60 pharmacists that are employed at my hospital who know the answer and are actually staffing.

One of our managers texted while I was out of the country telling me it was my time to sign up for vacation and I had 48 hours of I would be skipped (and I am talking about vacation that was over a year away). At least he "got in trouble" by his superior for that

I do enjoy seeing a text message and ignoring it until I get back - then replaying after my shift starts

 

[FrustratedFamDoc]

"Oh, one more thing"

Which inevitability becomes the real reason they came to see you, and is never something trivial where 30 seconds of lip service will suffice.

Oh no. "Oh, one more thing" has now all but guaranteed you another 15 minutes in the room, and probably more testing.

 

[BoardingDoc]

The person manning the phones yesterday told me they just got a call from a patient asking: "Is it a short wait right now, or should I call an ambulance?"

 

[ScepticSkeksis]

The person manning the phones yesterday told me they just got a call from a patient asking: "Is it a short wait right now, or should I call an ambulance?"

Anyone else have a UC that always tells people the wait is 5 hours? Probably EMTALA but still funny to listen to it.

 

[BigPikachu]

"Hey Doc. Check out this new rash on my penis."
"Sorry Doc. I haven't showered this week. Are you still happy to do my PapSmear?"