Patient Advocate
OK, so this is a little random, but I realized something today. I LOVE those who advocate for their patients. This came about randomly while I was watching ER today. There is one character (whose name slips my mind) who is constantly advocating for her patients. She is not only concerned about getting the patient in and out like I often see in real ERs. She always takes the patient's feelings, situation, family, reserves, etc, without judging them based on financial status.
Unfortunately, in this episode they were talking about firing her because of the amount of money she was costing the hospital. Now, it's not like she was careless with her spending, but she opted to do certain things for the patient to increase the patient's comfort during their stay and their quality of life. I love this sooo much. I wish everyone did this not only in the ER, but in every health care profession.
This also made me think... Why are hospitals so concerned with keeping costs down that they will often times do the bare minimal to manage the situation, versus actually taking care of the situation? Other countries don't take on this same thought process when it comes to health care! I mean how can we even change this? Is this something that the government needs to regulate more closely?