Monday, October 23, 2006
Pointing The Finger
Happy, Yoda is not.
Usually, in blog-mode, I try to stay positive. I know rant blogs get more hits, but I don't really want to go there. Today I have to make an exception to that policy. This is not directed at any one person, but at the growing and annoying trend in medblogs to trash either nursing, doctoring, or [ insert profession here ].
It's happening on all sides, with lashings of hyperbole and shrill yearning for the mythical "Good Old Days". The bleating goes something like this:
Oh, but those people aren't very intelligent, and those ones over there make lots of mistakes and that other group is insulting and these people are arrogant and those don't know their place, and I've got a story about how bad they are...Please.
Everyone has stories. I've got a million of 'em. Professionals of every ilk making woeful mistakes. That's because people do, on the whole. They screw up. Over and over again, myriad bone-headed errors. Telling anecdotes (some of which are first-hand experience, some the hospital equivalent of urban legend) is all very droll, and it will score you lots of hits and a healthy comment section, but it does little to reflect the reality of any professional body.
You want to do something that makes a difference? Right here and now? Clean up your own damn backyard. Fix what's wrong with your profession, before you come bleating to me about someone else's.
I am so off-the-scale tired of people in healthcare using other professions to score political points or make themselves look smart. There's been so much discussion of who's more intelligent lately that I'm forced to wonder if anybody has more than a couple of brain cells to rub together. Apparently bright minds suggesting that one professional group is ruining healthcare in their country. Aren't we past this yet?
We're supposed to make each other better. Professions are supposed to evolve. Along the way, guess what? We're going to make mistakes. We don't have all the answers yet, and anyone who purports to in their blog o' t' week is yanking your chain.
Posted by PaedsRN at 11:06 AM
I must voice a word of support for your perspective. You're not alone in your hope for a more productive, accountable, helpful workplace. I'm a student nurse, and I have seen a LOT of this blamey-accusatory stuff happening at nurses' stations already. Also a lot of good communication and selflessness are displayed, too, thankfully. Thanks for writing!
i'm down with that. its like takin the log out of your own eye before removing the speck from your neighbor's eye.
good post topic
It really nice and refreshing to hear for calls to nurses should stop shooting ourselves and others for professional points...hopefully..that day will come soon...before l bleed to death from all that back-stabbing!!
Who let my patients use the internet?!??
I have the choice of deleting this previous comment or leaving it on as an interesting look into the mind of someone suffering from psychosis - perhaps schizophrenia or bipolar manic w/psychosis (judging from the length of and effort that went into the comment I'd guess manic).
I guess I'll leave it up for the nursing students. There doesn't appear to be anything too horrible or inflammatory in there.
Watch out for clones and spicy-food eaters. ;)
-HK
Nursing student here...and example of manic noted...lol.
Maybe I am guilty of what you are speaking against in this post. My last post was a rant of sorts about over-inflated nurse educators, I guess the only way to clean up that backyard is to become one myself.
I have usurped your authority and deleted the comment, O Renovator of Houses, because anything in the comments that makes me scroll TEN pages is automatically Bad, and must be trashed :)
I enclose some quotes, for posterity:
" When the universe was young and life was new an intelligent species evolved and developed technologically. They went on to invent Artificial Intelligence, the computer that can listen, talk to and document each and every person's thoughts simultaneously."
" Also, cultures who embrace hard liquor as their drink of choice are grossly disfavored, tequilla being uniquely Mexican. (Anything "hard" is evil:::Hard alcohol, hard drugs, hard porn.)
Incidentally, another sign of gross disfavor are societies that consume spicy foods:::Latin America, Thai, etc. or those who eat too much meat."
10 pages of this. Yikes.
Aww heck. I liked it.
You know everyone else in the universe who has a blog that he posted this too has deleted it already and I might have been the only one to leave it up.
And he worked so hard on it. :P
heh!
Anyone who wants to see the crazy ranting 10-paged psychotic comment has to email me ;)
-HK
Heh. Sorry! I'm sure there'll be archived copies of it all over the net by now.
I can definitely agree with your post! We must be able to recognize our own shortcomings before we can help others. Great post!
Amen.
Too Fat, SN
Love your sentiments, and don't mind the negativity. Sometimes it needs to be said. The politics at work can be overwhelming and sad, considering we're all in it (I hope) to improve the lives of others. Try working on a unit with 99% female employees... the catfighting can be impressive.
Ouchies! Is it just me, or was that post directed at a certain few people...*looks around innocently*
Still, what you say rings true. Some people just mouth off without actually DOING anything to help the situation. Makes them no different from that manic-psychotic dude with the ten-page comment and oodles of time up there.
You should see the pumpkin I decorated for work... it's fitting to your picture...
http://haikuoftheid.blogspot.com/2006/10/pumpking-decorating-contest.html
That "rant" was more of a "miff".
You didn't even curse!
angrymedic asked:
"Ouchies! Is it just me, or was that post directed at a certain few people..."
Not at you, though certainly the nasty incident referred to on your blog was one of many examples. It's happening on all sides, and more than a few people (including some very prominent bloggers) need to stop blaming and start thinking.