Current Events > People in healthcare that don't care about patients piss me off

(+) Yeah! (+)

And holy fuck there are a lot of them. A loooooot

When I did social work at the state level Id say like 90% of my colleagues just viewed the clients as revenue and didnt think one bit about the impact their work was having on these individuals lives.

Tbh you're shamed if you care. Like "well you shoulda picked a different job if losing patients bothers you"

Imagine being rich and going to jail (and losing your license) over fraud to Medicare or any other insurance. At my company the fraud rate is like .02%, but when it receives over 1 billion claims per year it adds up.

Also I understand that insurances are also part if the reason providers cant offer good service a lot of times since theyre fighting against the clock.

I hear it all the time "Ehhh I picked nursing because it pays"

Can't imagine why they wouldn't give a fuck about people.

My ex gf was a nurse and she really does care. Almost too much at times, as it really got to her.

Currently seeing a pediatric neurologist resident right now and she absolutely loves kids and was made for the medical field.

I've dated other doctors before and you could tell they gave zero fucks about their patients.

DespondentDeity posted...

When I did social work at the state level Id say like 90% of my colleagues just viewed the clients as revenue and didnt think one bit about the impact their work was having on these individuals lives.

Social work. Revenue. Lol

HovaRex posted...

Tbh you're shamed if you care. Like "well you shoulda picked a different job if losing patients bothers you"

There's an area between not caring at all and being too emotional on a job. But, not being bothered even slightly does seem heartless. My cousin works at an old people's home and he keeps pushing when someone dies because he's use to it, but he also talks about them like they were friends.

Waddlez posted...

Social work. Revenue. Lol

Once you get the client on Medicaid every interaction is a payday for somebody.

The_X_Dawg posted...

Currently seeing a pediatric neurologist resident right now and she absolutely loves kids and was made for the medical field.

I've dated other doctors before and you could tell they gave zero fucks about their patients.

Don't get me started on forcing living wills on people when they still want to get better.

That's what happens you're encouraged to enter the healthcare field for money.

Because we don't tell kids to become a doctor because they help people, we tell them to become one to make lots of money.

Kinda hard to bond with a patient when you never meet them

When I was on antidepressants, my doctor would see me less than 5 minutes a month. He'd ask me questions and then cut me off when I would begin explaining how I felt. The pills helped for a while, but I did not like being forced to visit him once a month.

I had a really great x-ray tech one time, though.

bsp77 posted...

My ex gf was a nurse and she really does care. Almost too much at times, as it really got to her.

Me too

Umbreon posted...

That's what happens you're encouraged to enter the healthcare field for money.

Because we don't tell kids to become a doctor because they help people, we tell them to become one to make lots of money.

I'm in it and still ain't got any money lol

Lost_All_Senses posted...

There's an area between not caring at all and being too emotional on a job. But, not being bothered even slightly does seem heartless. My cousin works at an old people's home and he keeps pushing when someone dies because he's use to it, but he also talks about them like they were friends.

Your cousin is a good man. It ESPECIALLY pisses me off when it comes to nursing homes. I've bonded heavily with all my clients, and losing them is.. just fucking awful

A lot of people do enter the industry caring

It's a tough bloody gig. You're gonna lose empathy after seeing 1000 deaths

And dealing with 1000 irrational family members

And silently putting up with the abuse of 1000 people because "they're sick so they have an excuse to be horrible"

18 months at a nursing home was all I could take. I could feel myself beginning to have a shorter tolerance

Hasn't gotten any easier for me. But I still need to do it

Lost_All_Senses posted...

There's an area between not caring at all and being too emotional on a job. But, not being bothered even slightly does seem heartless. My cousin works at an old people's home and he keeps pushing when someone dies because he's use to it, but he also talks about them like they were friends.

I think old people in general it's easier to deal with when they go. Quality of life deteriorates to a point that death becomes the blessing, it's not like they were taken too soon

You can still absolutely adore them, consider them friends, but realise you have to keep pushing

haloiscoolisbak posted...

I think old people in general it's easier to deal with when they go. Quality of life deteriorates to a point that death becomes the blessing, it's not like they were taken too soon

You can still absolutely adore them, consider them friends, but realise you have to keep pushing

Not really, and the fear is the worst part of it imo

Define "care"...

FLAMING_EVIL_HOMER posted...

Define "care"...

No

every industry is like this. Its no longer about people or loving your job. Its making money and surviving

why would they care about people they barely know

Darkprince21 posted...

every industry is like this. Its no longer about people or loving your job. Its making money and surviving

It kinda matters more in this field than being a welder or store manager

Slayerblade11 posted...

why would they care about people they barely know

Wtf

I agree. Im just giving you the reality of it. Everyone is overworked, tired, understaffed, underpaid.

Darkprince21 posted...

every industry is like this. Its no longer about people or loving your job. Its making money and surviving

The beauty of public healthcare is that it's not an industry.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Don't take that out on the patients. I understand the frustration, but they need you. And some of them need you more than for just the medicine itself

Tote_All_ posted...

The beauty of public healthcare is that it's not an industry.

EHHH....

Smackems posted...

Wtf

Only a handful of people are compassionate and empathetic enough to go above and beyond for someone they barely know. It's the reality we live in.

Slayerblade11 posted...

Only a handful of people are compassionate and empathetic enough to go above and beyond for someone they barely know. It's the reality we live in.

A ton of them get to know them though. Nursing homes, home health, doctors, etc

Smackems posted...

Your cousin is a good man. It ESPECIALLY pisses me off when it comes to nursing homes. I've bonded heavily with all my clients, and losing them is.. just fucking awful

I actually go to his work to hang out. But most the time it's after bedtime. So, I only see a few people. Overall they're super pleasant. But there's one old lady that's dealing with the fact she burns all her bridges and overwhelms everyone trying to help because she feels like she should always be the most important person. And the things she says on repeat make me realize gow horrifying the last part of life is for those people. The one's who never learned the entire world isn't about them.

I was so disturbed by what she was saying at first. But now Im disturbed in a different way. I don't really have any fear of ending up in that state because I build good friendships and have a strong bond with my family. But seeing first hand how unlikable people end up .... it's horrifying. To the people here who burn every bridge that's extended to then ... Please rethink the way you go about life. I don't want that for anyone

Tote_All_ posted...

The beauty of public healthcare is that it's not an industry.

job field

Lost_All_Senses posted...

I actually go to his work to hang out. But most the time it's after bedtime. So, I only see a few people. Overall they're super pleasant. But there's one old lady that's dealing with the fact she burns all her bridges and overwhelms everyone trying to help because she feels like she should always be the most important person. And the things she says on repeat make me realize gow horrifying the last part of life is for those people. The one's who never learned the entire world isn't about them.

I was so disturbed by what she was saying at first. But now Im disturbed in a different way. I don't really have any fear of ending up in that state because I build good friendships and have a strong bond with my family. But seeing first hand how unlikable people end up .... it's horrifying. To the people here who burn every bridge that's extended to then ... Please rethink the way you go about life. I don't want that for anyone

And they need that extra care too. They're scared

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]



Yeah. Personally, RN here as well, i care only about my patients during my shift and dont care after that but i would hope they do okay.
My favorite is when i just get on shift and take over 7 med/surg patients who half are already calling for something while only having 2 nursing assistants for 28 patients and then some people getting upset because they havent got a warm blanket yet or something. Or a family member calling at the worst possible time and them getting mad because nobody is in the front nurse station because theres literally only 7 total people on the floor taking care of 28 patients. Then when you do answer they ask you questions about a patient you met only once and only know what you were told from report from previous shift and then give you attitude lol.

Situations like that just make you go in and just put your head down and do whatever you can because not everybody will be satisfied.

Glad i only work 2 nights a week now.

Smackems posted...

And they need that extra care too. They're scared

Id be scared too. But it's not the workers fault. They have a responsibility to more than just them. They'd have to neglect everyone else to give them the service they feel entitled to. It's just a sad situation for them. But I have no perspective on just how mean they were to people. I just heard a couple stories of her being mean to her kids when they visited. So, they just couldn't mentally take her abuse anymore

Lost_All_Senses posted...

Id be scared too. But it's not the workers fault. They have a responsibility to more than just them. They'd have to neglect everyone else to give them the service they feel entitled to. It's just a sad situation for them. But I have no perspective on just how mean they were to people. I just heard a couple stories of her being mean to her kids when they visited. So, they just couldn't mentally take her abuse anymore

I didn't mean giving them extra attention, I just meant giving a shit about them past giving their meds

Yeah i used to work on a long term care facility for people with mental disabilities with 22-30 patient to nurse ratio. Nothing as bad as a nursing home which i would never do. Was definitely way easier to hang out with the patients then compared to now.
Way different than the hospital because most patient are there only for a few days and gone when you get back and are more acute care. Whereas where i worked before and i think nursing homes, theyre their for longer amounts of time.

Honestly i envy the people who dont "care" as much because it honestly makes the job go by easier and stresses them out way less than people who do care. People who care tend to burn out a lot more.
I used to be a lot more helpful, proactive, and cared a lot more when i first started the floor, but i cut that out when i saw other nurses being lazy and not caring for their own patients.
Why i only care about my 7 patients and only help others when i am asked.

Smackems posted...

Not really, and the fear is the worst part of it imo

Seriously? I haven't met many nurses who think like this tbh

My grandfather is 99 in a nursing home and like, I'm kind of just waiting for him to pass now. There's certainly no fear. I still visit him a lot though

I care, TC :)

When people hate their jobs, they aren't gonna find a shit.

A lot of people though shouldn't be in healthcare.

I don't know how true it is that the girl bullies from high school become nurses as a way of abusing the power that they grew up having, but I've always thought that with conservative governments cutting funding to healthcare in general - let alone aged care and disabled care, where participants are reliant on the care for the rest of their life - has led to a ramshackle state of the industry where underpaid nurses who give a shit and are trying to do good within their abilities and best intentions are getting shoved out of the industry, and the people who callous over and stop treating patients as people are the ones who remain. And I'm quick to harp on America for being a shithole, but it's very much an Australian problem too and I would imagine it goes way further than that.

I had a friend who worked at an aged care facility. She was punched in the head by one of the patients - might have been the dementia ward. She got to sit down for five minutes before she went back to work. They didn't fill out an incident report, they didn't check to see if she had a concussion. They had her sit down for five minutes after getting punched in the head, and then they sent her back to work.

I work with another guy who stopped working in aged care last year. He's a dickhead, but he corroborated that the aged care industry is a rort and that there's institutional abuse going up to the top. There's no money to pay nurses a fair wage, there are no resources to help them do their job or to look out for their own wellbeing when they are put in danger. And that's not because all of the money is going to the patients, because these organisations are treating an ever burgeoning ageing population on a shoestring budget.

One last anecdotal story - a few years ago now, my town had a major blackout. We have an ex-serviceman's club, there's a cafe and a bar and a bistro and slot machines and shit. When all the power in town went down, they were able to keep their lights on. The club had an auxillary generator that meant they could keep operaring - and with all the power out in town, a lot of people were flocking to the club.

Our aged care facilities and our hospital? No auxillary generator. That sounds bad enough when you have a bunch of old people at the end of their life sitting in the dark with no air conditioning for upwards of eight hours - but there's also life support systems to consider, and some elderly patients required a constantly running air mattress due to bedsores and other ailments. When the power went out, those beds deflated and those patients had to lie on the floor in the dark. We have money to keep a pub and a bistro open, but we can't invest in the same technology to help the sick and the elderly.

So you have career nurses who stay with the job despite being paid for less than what they're worth, only because they've forced themselves to callous over and become a less empathetic and kind person to cope with the misery of the job, or because they like the thrill of the power they're authorised to wield. The people who want to make a difference have no support. When they get attacked by a patient, there's no support. They don't even get taken care of properly, not even through the official procedures that are meant to protect them. So understandably, they leave.

People who don't care about the patients are more prevalent when you're not putting in the money for equipment, training or proper care. And the people who are left, the callous ones and the abusive ones, are the ones who get promoted and make the industry worse for new nurses and for patients. It's a fucked up state.of affairs.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


Hmm sort of. It was a government funded facility of like 300-400 patients who were mostly born with physical disabilities or mental disabilities and most of them have been there for years. And yeah, i liked it there and worked there for 6 years, but the pay was garbage and they were having us have double forced on call shifts and stuff so i left to get hospital experience.

Yeah, my compromise right now is still to focus on patient care as much as possible and whatever unnecessary charting or other stupid non-patient stuff they want us to do will either be done last or not done at all. I haven't had management get on me for slacking in charting yet.
The system does feel that the nurses that don't really care about the patients are the ones that dont get tok stressed out and can keep working with no problem.