Thursday, October 24, 2013

They Don't Like It.

I've worked the past several days at both ER's I do PRN work. The hot topic of discussion was the ACA aka "Obamacare" which was brought up by the patients. I never bring up controversial topics with patients. 1) It's not professional 2) I don't have time to get involved with deep discussions unless it's with regard to the patient's health 3) I don't want the appearance of biased based care.

With that being said, the patients I spoke with hate the ACA. They're angry, they are afraid, especially the elderly. On one shift, I was the float nurse. It's a position where you are not assigned any rooms or patients and you float around and help people with doctor's orders or catch up on patient care. We affectionately call that position "the turd". Get it? ha. ER humor.

I was helping this one nurse with a new arrival. The couple was originally from a European country and came to the US years ago. They were awesome, friendly, and had a sense of humor. I wanted to shrink them and place them in my pocket for the day. As I performed my assessment and started the IV, they told me about their original country and why they came to the US. It was fascinating. The wife expressed her absolute fear and where this country is heading and the direction of the ACA. "You must stop this. You don't want this. We left a country with this type of healthcare and it is horrible. Many people, the old people, will die just because they are old. They don't consider if you're healthy and old - they see the age and won't spend any money to help you because of it." They also both expressed their fear of the dwindling privacy in this country and compared it to the rise of the Gestapo and Hitler since they were there during that time and remembered it. "You have to understand what this all means to this country. I don't think the Americans truly understand because they haven't experienced something like this before. We will all lose our freedoms."

I don't know if they thought I personally had a way to fix this, but their passionate hushed tones and pleading made me feel like I did.

The other patients did not have the same story as this couple, but were all against the law for various reasons: lack of privacy, more money to pay, fear of losing freedoms and not having control over their health. I even had a few conversations with different doctors I know all in various specialties. It was unanimous, doctor's didn't like it either.

I'm not saying that my little world represents the entire country, but I'm sure there are more areas like mine.


Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Thanks to Barbie, I'm an Orthopedic Surgeon!!

My daughter was talking about school and how they were discussing professions. She said everyone told the class what one of their parents did for a living. So I asked her if she spoke about me or her father.

"I told them what you did Mommy and how you are an orthopedic surgeon."
"WHAT??!!"
"Aren't you an orthopedic surgeon?"
"What did your teacher say?"
"She said, 'Wow, I did not know that.'"
"Our neighbor is an orthopedic surgeon, I am not one. Where did you get this from?"
"I thought you were one."
I'm utterly confused at this point. "Uh...no. Where do I work?"
"The ER."
"What do I do there?"
"Umm, you're a doctor?"
"What? No, I'm a nurse, honey. I didn't go to medical school. You should know that."
"But don't you cut people open in the ER?"
"I try very hard not to." (lol)
"But you fixed Lisa's (a friend of my daughter) Barbie leg that time. Remember?"
"Yes, but fixing a doll's leg doesn't make me an orthopedic surgeon. I'm an ER nurse."

If I had known that popping Barbie's legs back into their sockets made me a surgeon, I would have been billing patients a long time ago.