Spiff went off to work in the ICU this Saturday morning, leaving the house at 6:30 to ride his bike to work. He will probably return home tonight after 8:00 pm. He is working 13/14-hour shifts both Saturday and Sunday this weekend. This is after a week of 7pm-9am night shifts.
I mention this because, after he left this morning, I got up and read this status on a friend's facebook status:
I had to fight really hard to keep myself from posting a snippy, irritated comment in response. And in the end, I couldn't help myself from defending the doctors. I mentioned that doctors do work on the weekends, and they are do work around the clock in hospitals. I also mentioned that they are available at urgent-care and ER facilities. Her response was that doctor's weekend options are too expensive, so they should open their clinics on weekends and evenings at a normal rate.
In my opinion, expecting doctors to be available in their clinics at all times at normal rates is unreasonable. Should we expect plumbers, electricians, computer technicians, and all other professions to work around the clock, without overtime pay, just in case we need them? I don't think so.
Besides the fact that there are often weekend option available, I think it is important to think about the lifestyles of those providing services before demanding that they are available for our every whim.
What do you think?
9 comments:
i think she should shut her damn mouth about things she knows nothing about...
but that's not very "constructive" and doesnt really lead to any sort of positive discussion. on one hand, i SEE where people would assume such things. i think ive come to realize that most people take doctors for granted. they get angry about hours/costs/salary/etc, but they never stop to think about years in training/difficulty/ease of access (you dont have to wait months for an ultrasound)/etc.
and if weekend hours are such a pain, guess what? there ARE pediatricians who have weekend hours - they're not always conveniently close to you, and yes they're probably more expensive, but you CAN find those doctors. im sorry you're too lazy to find one that can help you on a saturday night.
there are also very few non-emergent situations where getting into a doctor for 2 days will make a huge difference in the quality of your child's care. get over yourself.
I think the key distinction here is the nature of the service and the pay. Movie theaters are staffed by high school and college students/dropouts. So are fast-food restaurants, the mall and gas stations. The pay is low and there is no education requirement. Furthermore, many people doing those jobs are also in school or holding down another job, so the weekends make perfect sense, as do the evenings. There is no problem staffing those jobs at no extra cost, because for some people working the weekends may actually be preferable, or at least the only workable option.
I totally agree with you. Yes, the emergency room is expensive but if your child is truly experiencing an emergency, you'd have to go there anyway.
I get the same thing, in email form which I realize is less annoying. But my students expect me to be available at all hours of the day or night and get really snippy if I haven't answered the question they sent at midnight by 6 am the following day. They get especially annoyed if I don't respond at all on Sundays. Also, my time has no apparent meaning to them, since I sit in office hours alone and undisturbed, but apparently am supposed to make an appointment at whatever time is convenient for them.
I think that everyone takes other services for granted. I often find myself complaining about my husbands career and the fact that he has to work graveyard shifts, weekends, and holidays. He also gets paid pennies compared to other careers. However, he has a lot of time off to spend time with family, and three day weekends every weekend. Every career has benefits and drawbacks. Being a doctor is very difficult because of the intense training that they (and their families) have to endure. But the benefits to being a doctor outweigh the drawbacks, otherwise no one would be a doctor. I have a lot of admiration for people who become doctors. Watching my brother-in-law's family dealing with it for the last seven years has opened my eyes to the difficulties associated with that career.
I know how frustrating it is hearing complaints about your husband's career, Mindy. I hear people constantly complaining about Matt's career. No one seems to understand that police officers have families that are affected when they have to work a 22-hour shift or when they are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week like Matt is. I get so mad because people don't stop and think about what is going on behind the scenes. I find myself thinking about that whenever I receive a service from anyone- doctors, gas station attendants, teachers, etc. There is no career that is more important than another. It takes every person and career in order for a community to function. Your friend should probably stop and think about others before feeling entitled to such services around the clock. Go to the weekend clinic, or wait until Monday. She probably wasn't trying to insult, though. She probably just didn't understand your perspective.
On the other hand, I have experienced some outrageous bills from doctor's offices. I always try to remind myself that a big part of that cost comes because of insurance companies and the need for malpractice insurance. So I take a deep breath and pay the bill.
Thank you, George, for your service!
Remember when I locked us out of the house after midnight in the middle of St. Louis city? I gladly paid extra to get the locksmith that was willing to come when we needed him.
Honestly there are so very few emergent cases, especially in peds, that can't wait until Monday or regular office hours. That being said I do know there were some nights when I was alone with baby Char and honestly thought, she can't breathe, now I have to take her in. Turns out I was just tired and she was just sick, but it would have been nice to have a voice of reason there with me. Would I have wanted to pay extra for that? No, but that's why I didn't call anyone.
In real estate, people want to see houses and property when THEY aren't working--so real estate is another career where a demand is felt to work on weekends and late nights. Plus, it's amazing to see how many "honest" people will give up their integrity in the name of a "good deal." ... Meaning we usually don't get paid because people don't like to pay realtors. A week ago on Facebook, someone put that they were waiting to purchase a house until the realtor's contract ran out so they didn't have to pay them. I DID leave a comment stating my annoyed opinion, but Justin made me delete it. I guess all careers have advantages and disadvantages. However, as I watch my neighbor (a doctor's wife) go on vacation after vacation and provide their children with the best opportunities available... I'm thinking they got the good end of the deal. Hang in there. You'll be my neighbor someday!
Amen to that! Seriously, I think it is kind of them to even offer evening/weekend appts. They have lives too! And like you said there is urgent care and the ER. Which obviously if you can't wait, you are willing to pay whatever price. Hence the name "URGENT" and "EMERGENCY"
Trent has been dealing with similar things lately with customers demanding things on Saturday and Sunday. And at first he was nice about Saturday and helped them out, but then they just started to take advantage of it. So he will only help them if they make an appt. for Sat on Fri. And Sun is still not an option.
I think some people think that "Customer Service" always means "bend over backward, do anything you want" And sure maybe at a restaurant, when that person's job is to be there at that specific time. But would we call a waitress to come in on her off hours, just because you happen to be hungry? Some people are so selfish.
The worst part of any profession is the beginning when you hold no seniority. But eventually he won't be the bottom guy with the horiible shifts. He'll be the experienced one that gets to pick his hours. Hang in there, the day will come, when all this not seeing him will pay off in him being home when he wants to, and spending as much time as he wants.
Maybe your friend should find a different provider. My group has an after hours/weekend clinic that doesn't cost any more than the regular office. There is another group in town with the same set up and I don't think this is unique to our town. She should shop around. I also like that there is a nurse I can call ANY TIME day or night when I have a question. I've been really pleased with them (accept their billing department messing up a charge, but that is a whole different ball game...)
And Christie, coming from a law enforcement family I totally understand where you're coming from.
There are times that I'm pretty happy to be married to an accountant. There's that nasty tax time of year, but other than that I always have him in the evenings and on the weekends. Props to you wives who constantly have to balance family needs with professional needs.
What I discovered while working at urgent care is that kids don't usually wait until the middle of the night or weekends to get sick, that's just when parents decide to do something about it. That was very frustrating.
Now working as a school nurse, I can see that parents often wait because they are afraid to lose their jobs. I can't tell you the number of sick kids who wait in the health room all day because their parent can't leave work. It's easy to say "If I were that parent, I would just leave work. My child comes first."; however, I've never lived in fear of losing my job or on the verge of poverty so I can't really say with any sort of real understanding what I would do in that situation.
All of that to say, I can see both sides. Doctors do work long, hard hours and sometimes parents (or people in general) don't attend to health needs in a timely manner. I wish there were an easy answer that would meet everyone's needs. Maybe your friend should look for a clinic that does offer extended/weekend hours--many multi-physician clinics are starting to offer these options without the expense of urgent care or after-hours care.
Sorry for the long-winded response.
I think I would have found myself in your same frustration after reading that. I sometimes just have to step back when people talk about "doctors" because if I even start I might say a lot of things I regret!
Post a Comment