Friday, January 01, 2010

Ding! Ding! Ding!

We have a winner!

It's going to be hard to not just totally reprint this article in this post. Read the whole thing ... the author is spot on.

The first paragraph says it all (but the article gets better from there...):

Emergency departments are distilleries boiling complex blends of trauma, stress and emotion down to the essence of immediacy: what needs to be done, right now, to fix the problem. Working the past twenty years in such environments has shown me with great clarity what is wrong (and right) with our nation’s medical system. It’s obvious to me that despite all the furor and rancor, what is being debated in Washington currently is not healthcare reform. It’s only healthcare insurance reform. It addresses the undeniably important issues of who is going to pay and how, but completely misses the point of why.

Yes! Yes! Yes! Hey, Dad ... you want to know why I went to Washington to protest?

That's why.

Healthcare costs too much in our country because we deliver too much healthcare. We deliver too much because we demand too much. And we demand it for all the wrong reasons. We’re turning into a nation of anxious wimps.

Right on.

We are taught to fear vaccinations, mold, shark attacks, airplanes and breast implants when we really should worry about smoking, drug abuse, obesity, cars and basic hygiene.

I'm not gay, but I'd kiss this man. Somebody forward this to a gun-control advocate, because the same logic applies .... but I digress.

A good physician needs to have the guts to stand up to people and tell them that their baby gets ear infections because they smoke cigarettes. That it’s time to admit they are alcoholics. That they need to suck it up and deal with discomfort because narcotics will just make everything worse. That what’s really wrong with them is that they are just too damned fat.

Thomas Doyle, MD ... you, sir, are my hero. I'd work in your ER any day. Better yet, please run for office. I'd volunteer for your campaign in a heartbeat.

Letdown

As much as I enjoy the holidays, it's such a letdown when it's all over.

I thought I'd have more time to enjoy Christmas this year, but it didn't happen. It felt just as rushed as last year. I didn't have that warm-fuzzy feeling I used to get at Christmastime. The thrill is gone, and I don't know why.

Geez, when it comes down to it, I literally slept through the vast majority of Christmas day and New Year's Day. I know to expect that as a nurse, but still ... what a drag.

Blah.