Sloth...Myopia...Nihilism...Hypocrisy...Ennui...
Just to pronounce them reveals the ugliness within. God forbid anyone should ever have a doctor who worships such character flaws...which reminds me of something:
What better way to illustrate how these faults perform a disservice to patients than by giving examples where yours truly has committed them? Say, maybe this will lead to an invitation to appear on one of those television shows where folks are goaded into self-flagellation! Let's gather 'round kiddies and listen as the C. O. reads chapter seven of How to Be a Fantastic Doctor , entitled "Don't Let This Happen to You."
Sloth: habitual disinclination to exertion; indolence; laziness
I remember one afternoon during my internship where after a brutal night on call I faced my afternoon duties like a infantryman one day before getting his papers to ship back home - one eye on the jungle and the other on my wristwatch. Just when I thought I had everyone tucked in bed, I signed out to my relief and headed for the door at approximately the same clip a GBU-10 hastens to a despot's bungalow.
You can probably guess what happened next...
Here's how it would appear in my memoirs: "As I grasped the handle of the door separating the alluring world of food, drink, sleep and mindless video rentals from my current reality my name suddenly reverberated throughout the halls, the overtones hanging in the air above me." Moses himself never heard such bellowing from the clouds. I paused just long enough to listen to the debate going on inside my noggin, and then remembering that technically I was off and all problems were now the responsibility of the on-call intern, I walked out.
After a refreshing night off I returned to the hospital and on my sign-in sheet found the following three letters scribbled next to the name of one of my patients: R. I. P. I'll never forget the feeling that lingered all day: I wonder what that page was for?
Good doctors know that some days things go smoothly and before they know it they're zipping home to a nice chicken pot pie and an evening of intellectual entertainment. Other days, though, Mount Olympus sends a thunderbolt or two down just to remind them that doctors are only doctors when they doctor - not when they ignore their responsibilities.
Happy are all those who go home at the end of the day, but blessed are those who leave only when their work is done.
Next, The Five Deadly Sins of Doctors, Part III: Myopia
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But that wasn't sloth at all. That was honoring a boundary. A slothful person consistently, over time, continuously seeks ways in which to cut corners to keep from having to invest time and effort into their work.
A person who recognizes their own needs and clearly deliniates between what they can do and what is too much to do, but otherwise pursues their best within their own capacity, is not slothful.
And it isn't fair to the hard working people who have to recognize their own boundaries--who are fighting to learn how to recognize their own boundaries, who are slowly learning how to say no when they really need to say no--to pretend that actually saying no when rest is absolutely necessary is in some way a failure.
But? You choose the best links.
In fact, isn't it possible that had you answered the page, in your tired state you would have delivered less effective care than your replacement? The fact that one of your patients died doesn't make it any more or less likely that this would have been the case.
Yeah - but we know when there are times that we might have the piece of information to be assistance, know the patient better or know the care plan better. That's what the CO is getting at.