Help, I have a new job in the ER and it is making me prejudiced

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

First, my non-prejudiced white-guy bona fides:

*Some of the most influential people from my youth were black and I am friends with them to this day.

*I dated a black girl for 2 years before I married my wife. I would have married her but she broke up with me. I was completely ok with having bi-racial kids.

*A quick google of my real name will show me protesting a David Duke rally.

*I have hosted a conversation group in my home that includes white, black, Latinos, gay, transgender, christian, atheist, Muslim…etc.

*Just tonight, my family is having dinner with a Costa Rican family we love dearly.
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I am in school and work as a registrar in the ER. Basically I am the person you see when you first come in. You tell me what your medical issue is.

The abuse and misuse of the ER system is staggering. We cannot turn anyone away. But the amount of people who come in because they have a fever (take some Tylenol and go to bed), a sore ankle (which they a walking on just fine), think they are pregnant (go get a home pregnancy kit), have a cold (suck it up), or are looking for a note to miss work (ummm, no) boggles the mind. 80 year old ladies who are short of breath have to wait while triage slogs through the riffraff who shouldn’t even be here!

Then there is the entitled attitude. The guy with the thumb he jammed two days ago is livid because the possible stroke was taken back immediately while he has been waiting 3 hours. “Why he get to go back? My motha fuckin’ thumb be hurtin yo!”

Or a patient demanding that I call around to pharmacies to find the cheapest place to fill her Percocet prescription. I can’t because I am juggling 50 people in the waiting room…and it’s not my job to shop for you.

Or the “frequent flyer” who is back with more lower back pain who has been waiting for 2.5 hours in a crowded ER. She sees a woman with chest pains and shortness of breath who gets taken back to be seen. So suddenly she has chest pains and shortness of breath, too. I ask her is she is serious and she says “you can’t say I ain’t so put me back with a doctor”. I tell her we will see her but if she is lying she is endangering the other people in the room who are in real danger. She said, “I don’t give a fuck.”

You would be amazed at the people who come in REGULARLY to get treated for this STD or that…

I mentioned the lady who wanted a pregnancy test. I asked her if she had tested herself previously and she said “naw, I come here so it’s free”. She had an iPhone 5 and thousands of dollars in tattoos.

One more (out of many). A lady drove herself in to be seen for a fever and chills, probably the flu like so many others. She sees that the wait is long, so she calls 911 and gets the ambulance to pick her up in front of the hospital so she can be driven directly in to the ER and be seen immediately. She is triaged and put back into the waiting room to wait while more emergent patients were treated. Where she promptly goes into a profanity laced tirade about all the white people who work in the ER.

The VAST majority of these people are on Medicaid or are self pay (which means never pay).

One thing I have left out thus far…**ALL of the people I mentioned are black. **I live in a predominantly white area.

I do not want to be prejudiced, but I have to say my experiences in the ER are making it difficult. I realize I am getting a skewed perspective, but damn, it is so frustrating. I am finding myself looking at black people differently. I know in my heart this is not right, but I don’t know what to do to stop it.

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Well you’re going to see the worst of the worse because of where you work. You’re not going to see the responsible black people who have insurance or are willing to pay $5 for a home pregnancy test because…well they don’t show up there. Just keep reminding yourself that they’re not a representative of their race as a whole. They’re on the end of the bell curve and given where you work, you are much more likely to see them than the more ‘average’ person. Try not to let these individuals affect your view of the race as a whole and instead view them as individuals. Their race shouldn’t matter.

3

This sounds like a case of confirmation bias - tell us about the black patients who AREN’T behaving inappropiately, or the white ones who are?

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I work in a community college. 90% of the students are black. They are eager to learn, disciplined, respectful, kind, smart. Unfortunately that doesn’t help you much, unless you want to start volunteering.

You’re the first face they see? Give them as much grace as possible. You can’t separate out the worthy from the unworthy. They are all both. Be kinder than they are.

They will surprise you. Be as open to them as possible. Pregnancy? STDs? Unexplained pain? The flu? Shortness of breath? These people are afraid. Not everyone handles their fear gracefully. But you can handle their fear gracefully.

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Very true. I do love people. I had a hard time not hugging everyone who came in at first. I do see it as my opportunity to show kindness to people suffering and who may not have had much kindness in their lives.

I have been surprised by them at times.

But I think the thing that frustrates me is that I don’t see how the system can long survive under the pressure of the people I described.

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Rysler and Angelsoft hit it. You are going to see the worst of people, so give them your best. ER is a very stressful place to work, for every position, and you are going to need to come up with a way to present your best side and NOT let the place get to you, else you are going to end up acting like someone you don’t want to be. Remember to ACT, not REACT, with as much grace as possible.

FWIW, I live in an area where everyone goes to the ER for everything. EVERYTHING. Of course, the medical offices here are limited, and there are no urgent care facilities, so if something happens on a weekend you really don’t have a choice. But I still occasionally wonder if this is a California attitude, or a Mexican-California attitude, as the place in which I live is 80 percent Mexican, whether by descent or actual nationality. I have never lived anywhere else where people go to the ER first, rather than for just emergencies, so it’s been an eye-opener.

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The system doesn’t. Hospitals struggle. Hospitals close. Medicare is weighted down.

Hence all the changes. In two years, it will be quite different. In 10-20 years, it will be an entirely new thing altogether.

Interesting, Taomist!

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I’m a little skeptical about this one

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I think I just needed to get that off my chest. Thanks to everyone for not being judgmental and giving some real words of wisdom!

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I wish I were making it up or exaggerating. Which part, in particular, do you have trouble believing? That all of the people I described are black? That someone used Ebonics and curse word to address me?

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For people without insurance, the ER is often their ONLY medical treatment choice. I know here in Oregon, it’s next to impossible to get on the state medical plan unless you’re pregnant. Otherwise, you’re SOL. Because even if it’s something simple, most doctors will not see you if you have no insurance. Even if you offer to pay cash up front, chances are they won’t even give you an appointment. At that point, your choices are to suffer through whatever or go to the ER. You may have a long wait, but they HAVE to treat you. Yeah, you’ll walk out with an insanely exorbitant bill, but hopefully your problem will be treated.

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Just remember in many other hospitals, the scrounging time wasters taking advantage of the system that you describe, are white. (especially in my area of the UK, but I’m letting my snobbery show now).

Or would be white if they washed.

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People who deal with assholes on a regular basis become jaded. Cops come to mind. The thing to keep in mind is that they’re assholes: not assholes of color or particular economic status, just. . .assholes in general. Take each person as they come to you. If someone acts like an asshole, write him off as such, deal with it, and move on to the next person. If it becomes unbearable, try to find something else to do in your field.

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I’m not one bit. The first quote clearly is confirmation bias - I have no problem believing all of the people newcrasher chose as examples are black.
The second quote is similar to things I heard in the emergency room. I brought my 2 year old in with a clearly broken arm and when we went right back to see the doctor you would not believe the howl of protest that erupted.

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The OP has the same problem a technician in a car dealership has. A large percentage of them think the cars they work on are absolute shit because every one they see is broken and every customer they talk to is pissed off.
What they don’t see are the cars out there that are just driving and never have issues that bring them into the dealer.

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Impossible to take seriously after this.

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Same attitude in poor rural white Appalachia, poor Hispanic Appalachia, and poor black Appalachia, newcrasher. It isn’t race that determines a sense of entitlement, oppression, and certainty that one can never rise above perceived oppression. If you have time, watch the documentary “American Hollow” on YouTube. A poor white family discusses what might happen if welfare were cut around 1:40, chapter 2. Part 7 shows what a hardworking motheris up against as she tries to convince her teenaged son to get a job. Some of this subject matter is gritty, shameful, and infuriating. But I want you to see that the attitude you’re witnessing at the hospital isn’t limited to race or geographical location.

View the entire film for more examples of poor white entitlement, but also note there are far more kind, earnest, and hardworking members of this community than there are neverdowells.

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Then you are summarily dismissed from the conversation after contributing absolutely nothing.

** One of the reasons I have largely left the Dope is the propensity of many users to find something wrong with every possible thing while not advancing the conversation a whit.

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That that quote as rendered had been uttered by an Africo-American. Sorry for the misunderstanding. It was meant as a bit of sarcastic humor, which often translates poorly in text.

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Oh, boo fucking hoo that I’m not going to coddle you and try to make you feel better about your racist bullshit.