Recently I got involved in an exchange on the blog of a Christian ER doctor. I was getting fatigued with his constant berating of the poor, uninsured patients and those patients who have made bad life choices. In one sentence he would claim to love them with the love of God and the next demean them, criticize them, the total opposite of what he had just claimed. I responded in defense of the poor and sinful with a question of how Jesus would have treated these people. Then there was a flurry of exchanges of different doctors who took great offense to my statements. I, of course responded and the funny thing in doing so was that I surprised myself with a conviction that I hope to adopt. I realized that this is what I base my work as a nurse and soon as a nurse practitioner. This is what I wrote:
"I am a nurse in an ER in downtown Detroit. I also have volunteered time in a clinic for the uninsured. I am finishing my studies to be a nurse practitioner and all my rotations have been in hard core poverty situations. So far I am protected from law suits, I get paid a salary for my care of patients in the ER and I haven’t yet had to be solely responsible to find care for a patient. That day will be coming all to soon. But, in my 18 years as a nurse, I have held the hands of patients with HIV. I have counselled teenagers about pregnancy and STD’s. I have treated people who are lazy and expect the health care system to give them everything for no cost. I have wept with the abused and the assaulted. I have questioned the homeless who come to the ER with complaints just to get a sandwich. I have tried to find homeless shelters and free care for the poor when they are discharged from the hospital. I have refused to write work notes for the patient who missed work the day before showing up in the ED hungover. I struggle with the futility of trying to get an 8th grader whose only goal in life is to be old enough to go the bar and can’t spell a sentence correctly to want to go to college and make a life for himself.Just last night I was working with a gay EMT in triage and was asked by a gay patient if I was part of their community as if it was a totally normal thing. Sometimes I think nurses have to spend more time getting involved in the patient’s problems.
I have worked closely with a large number of doctors - we have laughed over the psych people, we have bemoaned the abuse of the ER, we have struggled with the gunshot victim, we have sighed over the woman wanting an STD check in the ER at 2 am, we have cried for those we want to treat with more and are unable to, we have berated the drug seeker. I understand what you are facing.
Yes I get frustrated with those who abuse the system, the chronic patients who don’t follow their plan of care and don’t realize they are going to become very expensive patients when the consequences of their non-compliance kicks in. Yes I get frustrated with the evidence of sin in this world - violence, drugs, alcohol,abortion, teenage pregnancies, broken families etc.
I have lived and worked in a third world country. I have seen America through someone else’s eyes. I have seen what America has that other countries do not have. Some of my best friends have a whole lot less than I do. I have walked with them in their need. And I know it was only because of God’s divine plan that I live in America and not over there. Yet I struggle with why I should be so privileged.
I stand by the fact that a lot of the problems of the health system is simply a product of what America has made it to be. The way people are today is a result of sin in this world. This is not going to go away. In fact, as the Bible says, things are going to get worse. I constantly need to look at myself and find a way to deal with all the wrongs that is constructive and honoring to God. I seek to make a difference,if only for a second, in whoever comes my way - no matter what is going on in that person’s life. I have a long way to go to make that a reality but I know that God is faithful to make up for my weaknesses. I refuse to allow the frustrations of sin in the world bog me down when it so easily can. I take comfort in the fact that when my life is over, I will be in a place where all the questions, the frustrations and sin will not matter anymore. And until then I do the best I can to bring heaven to this earth. This is the choice I have made."
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
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