Lately there have been a lot of articles about clinician burnout. There are good reasons. The past 18 months have been tough for everyone. But a few days ago I saw a lovely patient whose wound had returned in an area of previous high-dose radiation. The reason it reopened is that she has a rare pelvic cancer, and the cancer has come back. There aren’t any good treatment options for her cancer this time around. The radiation wound hurts and the tumor drains. We brainstormed ideas to manage the drainage, the odor and the pain. That’s all I have to offer.
I’d gone into the room preoccupied with my own challenges – personal and professional. When I asked her how she was doing, she said, “I’m right where God wants me to be.”
I saw this quote from John Gordon about burnout: “We don’t get burned out because of what we do. We get burned out because we forget why we do it.”
Once again a patient reminded me why I’m here. I think she reads my blog – so I will just say, “thank you.” You know who you are. You reminded me that I too, am where I am supposed to be. And so are we all.
–Caroline
Dr. Fife is a world renowned wound care physician dedicated to improving patient outcomes through quality driven care. Please visit my blog at CarolineFifeMD.com and my Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/carolinefifemd/videos
Just lovely