Morale in the Medical Field

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at how the changes in the health care system have contributed to low morale in physicians and nurses and other personnel. It examines the current conditions in that field and also evaluates the economic impact of allowing that state of affairs to continue by looking at the ethical and human resources issues involved. It also points to some possible solutions to this phenomenon.

From the Paper:

"It wouldn't come as a surprise to many people that when a job involves repetitive tasks, the worker can become bored, demoralized and stressed out, and that worker's morale may sink. Adding to that time pressures makes it that much worse: think of the scene from "I Love Lucy" when Lucy and Ethel were working in a candy factory and the supervisor kept speeding up the line. Pretty soon, Lucy and Ethel couldn't cope with it, and they began cramming the chocolates into their mouths, their blouses, their hats. In the end, they gave up in despair.
While no one would mistake the medical profession for a candy factory, the same sorts of things have been happening with the same predictable results. The physicians and nurses, especially, have found themselves more often than not in "production" lines, the managed care scenario in which they are expected to see ever more patients and even save money while seeing them. Their own wages have been cut, their hours lengthened, along with more expectations piled on. If it were an industrial setting, you can bet the shop steward would be involved, and the entire thing might be handled through collective bargaining. But physicians and nurses are "professionals" and so are not represented by unions with at least some clout. Worse still, the physicians and nurses got into the field because, in most cases, they also had a strong need and desire to help people. In the prevalent managed care medical setting, often they don't really get a chance even to see if their work has made a difference. Result of all this. Low morale, which, in turn, creates its own problems."

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