Nurses and Internist Are Your Best Friends

I know surgeons usually get all the respect and admiration, but if you find yourself in the hospital for whatever reason, do remember that the nurses (especially the experienced ones) and the internists are your best friends. The hospital is structured with salaried employees that make the same amount of money no matter how many patients they treat (nurses and internist), and doctors who have privledges at the hospital who make money based on how many consults they see (surgeons). The surgeons want to do surgery, because that is what they get paid to do, and the more surgery they do, the more money they make. I was recently following a 98 year old patient who had a rare type of skin cancer, and had already received the maximum amout of radiation. She now had a new outbreak on her skin that may have been the same type of cancer again. The patient was also found to have a small hip fracture. She was bedbound, and never expected to walk much anymore. The orthopedic surgeon who came to consult on her simply saw a money making opportunity. He booked her for a hip replacement, and put in a certain type of joint replacement (because he could get paid more for using this particular type) that is meant for people who are young and need to get back to full activity. A hip replacement in no small surgical procedure, and this surgeon put this old frail woman though the trauma of this surgery unnecessarily in order to make some money. So, getting back to the internist and the nurses..an internist truly wants to diagnose you, treat you, and send you out. They do not get paid per patient, or for the amount of times they see you. The experienced nurses have seen it all, and if you really want a 2nd opinion, you should ask them. If you go to another surgeon, you will probably get the same answer, because they want to make money too. Although I plan on being a surgeon, and I realize that a healthcare system where surgeons do not get paid per patient would mean less money for me after all this schooling and hard work, I think this would be a better system for the patients. On the other hand, this would also mean long waits for surgery for patients..there would be no incentive for surgeons to work long hours if they were not getting paid per patient. So, what is the answer? I am not sure that anyone has come up with a good one yet.