Hospital Workers

In these parts that medi-vac chopper ride cost between $28,000 and $65,000 depending upon Albuquerque versus Santa Fe and how many and the type of technicians you require. A neighbor with a ruptured aorta was charged $60,000 for the ride from Taos to Albuquerque. I was sent from Taos to a larger hospital in Santa Fe by ground ambulance. It took a few hours since all the ambulance services here are volunteer Fire Departments and they have to round up the crew.

Out little hospital, Holy Cross, aka "Holy Smoke!" has gotten much better over the years. They still pass on the more serious cases. Nice people though and they have certainly helped me over the years. Bless them!

I think, in general, attitudes in hospitals have changed dramatically over the past 50 years.  It used to be viewed as almost an industrial or military institution. Your job as the patient was to obey unquestioningly.  Regimentation and ruthless efficiency were the order of the day.  There would be no "frills", no "nice-to-haves", no comforts.  It wasn't exactly the fault of healthcare workers back then.   It's how they were trained to run a hospital.

Then some people started studying outcomes and discovered, hey, those comforts and "frills" have significant and measurable effects on outcomes. Doctors/nurses who listen rather than just issue edicts have significant and measurable effects on outcomes.  

That resulted in a transformation of healthcare, especially in hospitals.  Even the physical buildings gradually became much more human, less forbidding places to be.  The workers in them learned new ways of running them.

I spent some time in the ICU a while back because of a mistake by a doctor in a hospital, and I encountered a nurse there who was a bit old-school.  But everyone else, without exception, was terrific.  Those folks are doing the Lord's work, and doing it with incredible patience, often under very difficult circumstances.  On the whole, I got no problem with them folks whatsoever.

Sadly the hospitals in my neck of the woods haven’t progressed as you’ve described. You go to Emergency, stand in line, wait while they triage you and maybe in 8-12 hours you’ll get to see a doctor depending on your emergency.

I've never had anything but awesome care in my limited time in hospital (thankfully).

At the minute, the pressure and stress they are under is crazy!

My beef is with Nurses no longer dressed like Nurses in their starched white cap, white dress, white hose and white shoes. They looked like Nurses and commanded my respect. When one came marching towards me with a syringe in hand, I knew my situation was going to improve. Now they all wear those sloppy looking Scrubs. I cannot tell a Nurse from a Bed Pan Collector. Undignified. 

Over here, some nurses wear scrubs, but that would command my respect even more, as the only others who wear scrubs are doctors/surgeons. I wish they were treated the same and respected the same. 

That said, a bed pan collector would also get my respect.

Medical is a risky trade to be in right now. The fact that they are there doing everything they can for people's health and safety, despite that it generally exposes them to a greater degree to COVId infection. The have my respect and gratitude.

My real issue is with the black scrubs that seem to have become universal in Houston. I mean, BLACK scrubs!!

WOW and I was asleep and didn't see her.

On a scale of one to ten, the nurse that shaved my shoulders for two different surgeries was a twelve.

When I woke up, I felt like I ke I was in a fantasy world seeing her, and I responded accordingly. But my wife was there also... glad she is understanding.