So I’ve been following this page for a while. I am a paramedic and I’ve worked in emergency medicine for 8 years now. After COVID I was looking to come off of the ambulance so I’ve been working in a pediatric emergency dept as a medic but we work as RNs there. So many people think “wow they LET YOU take patients?”… yes they LET me take a job I’m 100% qualified to do for $8/hr less than RNs.
Anyway… the job is incredibly stressful for little money. I’ve faced personal challenges there that I’ve never faced before. I’ve also developed plantar fasciitis (from walking in a very fast paced work environment) and digestion issues that I feel have come from working in such a high stress environment. I love all of my coworkers and we all get along so well (probably because we are trauma bonded) but management sucks. This past summer/fall was so unmanageable due to the insanely high volume of sick (and not sick at all) patients coming into the ED with the lack of staff available to take care of everyone. It’s sad because we didn’t even have the time to sit and talk to patients because we were forced to just push as many people though as possible. Their excuse was “we can’t let people leave with their sick children without being seen because something bad could happen” but they didn’t give a sh*t about sick children… they wanted their money and the hospital is 100% willing to risk the mental health of their workers in order to get it.
This past summer really showed me how evil hospital corporations are to work for, you would think that a pediatric hospital would be different but they are praying on all of us.
Anyways…we have slowed down a bit and I’ve gone part time for work life balance. I’ve gotten more comfortable and I feel like I can handle the job for the most part but my stress levels are still high.. it is a peds emergency dept after all…. My boss scheduled me for a phase two class which means that after taking the class I would be more qualified to take care of patients with a higher criticality. I would be signed off to work in the area of the ER with the trauma rooms. I told them that I’m working on my mental health and I don’t feel that right now is the time for me to start increasing my stress levels to take care of multiple sick/dying children at once and I asked if I could just stay where I’m at right now since I have a pulse and we are so short on warm bodies I didn’t see that as an issue … I was vulnerable and explained that I’m burnt out and the high stress levels I feel at work carry over into my personal life and (with lots of therapy) I am finally at a good place right now… I’d like to stay here. I also mentioned that I’m getting paid poorly (even by medic standards) and the bang isn’t worth the buck.
I thought they would be understanding but not at all. The entire “meeting” felt very icky like I was being punished and they didn’t listen to me at all and said they will have to get their manager involved. I went PRN two days later and I haven’t felt better since then. No one from higher management has even contacted me and I’m on my way out.
This is the first time I’ve ever stuck up for myself like that. I was very open and vulnerable yet firm even when they pressed me, I can’t imagine how many brand new providers they are putting in very uncomfortable situations they aren’t ready for and it makes me sick.
Anyway… be nice to those who are caring for you because you have no idea what they have to go through. But always be shitty to corporate assholes and big pharma. Thanks for reading.