A finish line is in sight. We can do this. Time to hunker down.
What I’m doing:
-keeping littles home from preschool
-pulled all kids from indoor sports
-no gyms
-continue online church
-takeout only
-no indoor gatherings without masks, even with our bubble
Our family is planning for #ChristmasInJuly. It’s not easy but I’ve worked Thanksgiving/New Years or Christmas holiday every single year since I’ve been an emergency physician (long time now 😬.)
Holiday traditions are important but they don’t make families. People do.
It’s really hard to tell my kids they can’t do sports or get together with anyone. But we can get through this. There is a finish line and the prize is worth the sacrifice.
But it *really* helps knowing that it’s not forever and the payoff is worth it.
Not everyone has the privilege to make changes like these. That’s ok. But if you are able, please hunker down. Your sacrifice could save lives. It could mean a full table at #ChristmasInJuly and for many Thanksgivings to come.
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Hospital bed capacity (or more accurately nurse/RT capacity) is limited. A decrease in the LOS and recovery time translates directly into increased capacity.
100 nurse days/15 days per patient = capacity to care for 6.6 patients
We know that as hospital systems get overwhelmed, excess, unnecessary mortality increases: from COVID patients who can’t get admitted because they aren’t “sick enough,” inadequate care in the hospital and for all the other patients who can’t access care. scientificamerican.com/article/covid-…
As teachers go back to school, I think it's important that they learn from what we have learned in hospitals. I will share some things and hope others chime in with their best tips.
This post is for my healthcare workers, docs, surgeons, Nurses, aids, and ems, but also support staff.
There is no emergency in a pandemic
You as a healthcare worker are a force multiplier. Your training and experience is invaluable moving into this crisis. So, you're going to be faced with some very difficult moments. You're going to have to put your needs first.
I'm speaking specifically about PPE and your safety
If you're an ICU nurse, or an ICU doc, and you become infected, not only are you out of the game for potentially weeks (or killed) But your replacements could be people without your expertise.
“But in taking their cause to politicians, doctors have waged an extraordinary on-the-ground stealth campaign to win over members of Congress. Their professional credentials give them a kind of gravitas compared with lobbyists who are merely hired guns.”
Thanks @NPR for the encouragement to keep going! Sometimes democracy does actually work. Sometimes citizens meeting with their legislators & explaining #EMTALA and the unintended consequences of certain policies to our safety net and emergency care system works.
It’s definitely not a “stealth campaign” though! One of our meetings with an aide was standing in the hall today 😂. We’ve published, done podcasts and tweeted ad nauseam since no journalists seem to care about the details or anything but lurid headlines.
Not true @ezraklein. Doctors are not the enemy to “fight.” We aren’t a “problem.” And patients trust us because we devote 7+ years to rigorous, exhausting training and we actually take care of them. We provide invaluable services. Unlike their insurance company.
Uwe Reinhardt wrote: “If we...cut that take-home pay [of all physicians] by, say, 20%, we would reduce total national health spending by only 2% in return for a wholly demoralized medical profession to which we so often look to save our lives.”forbes.com/sites/physicia…
Uwe Reinhardt: Physicians are the central decision makers in health care. A superior strategy might be to pay them very well for helping us reduce unwarranted health spending elsewhere.”