The Dilemma of the Healthcare worker

The commercialization of Healthcare is a fact, it is happening.  It is happening because there is money to be made.  If there were not, there would not be any hospitals converting from not for profit to for profit.  For profit companies do not buy hospitals to lose money.

There are many problems with healthcare being run as a business first, and a deliverer of health care second.
I would like to focus on just one aspect of that problem, the effects it has on Healthcare workers.

Working in Heath Care is a calling. People devote themselves to the educational requirements needed, putting their lives on hold for several years, to be able to devote themselves to their vocation.  Then they devote their lives, both in time and in emotional investment to the care of those who need them.
It can be extremely rewarding, if not financially, then at least emotionally.

When such a worker finds themselves thrust into a world where they are not given enough time to properly carry out their mission, the conflict between doing the right thing and doing what little they are able to do, can tear their soul apart.

And yet, they cannot walk away, it is after all, their calling.
So they remain, day after day, year after year, in a situation that is impossible to live with and impossible to walk away from.

What is the solution?
I do not know.

But I think it has to start with a realization of the situation, both so that the healthcare worker can deal with the internal conflict and so that the public can be aware, and maybe effect change in the system.

I also know this, since we formed a union at Backus, we now have a voice, we now have hope. 

There is much to do, and working together and supporting each other will keep us strong.