The Importance Of Putting Ego Aside

It was a shift like any other shift. We were steady, calls were kind of run of the mill, the hospitals were backed up, and healthcare plodded on in it's broken state. I had brought a patient into the ED who was moderately injured and would need some diagnostic imaging to confirm or deny a possible head injury and other injuries. The patient was uncooperative and didn't want anything to do with EMS but agreed to accept a ride. The details are of less importance than what transpired in the emergency department. Upon giving my bed side report I was ostracized because I hadn't started an IV. This is something that occurs in our world far too often.

The constant ego battle between paramedics and nurses has been an ongoing concern and problem for years. It is something that has baffled me, and angered me for just as long as I have been in this industry. I have the utmost respect for every one of my healthcare colleagues and when I am ostracized for not getting one thing done, or criticized for varying reasons it affects me deeply. I know by far that I am not perfect at this career, as none of us are, but that is why we have a health care system that PRACTICES medicine. Medicine has never been perfect and we learn new things every day, and make advancements and change things based on evidence and common practice. This battle of ego's between nurses and medics is something that is archaic, out dated, and the evidence shows that it only causes tension, complaints and general bad feelings between the two groups. This is a detriment to patient care.

If we look at both professions and match up our similarities and our differences, together we are a mighty awesome team that can provide excellent care to any patient. Don't misread what I am saying, this is a small problem and definitely not the majority of the time. Although it happens enough to my self and many colleagues, both nurses and medics, as medics are guilty of doing it to nurses as well, that I felt it was something worth mentioning. Health care has to be a team approach, utilizing the skills of every person involved from the nursing aid to the neurosurgeon. Nurses, ED physicians, respiratory techs, Paramedics, lab techs, cardio techs, and every other discipline that works together to provide every patient with excellent care. Imagine if you will an ideal world where the medics have done everything they can in the short time, limited space and chaotic conditions. They arrive at the emergency department, and hand off care to the ED team and instead of focusing on the one or two things the medics didn't get a chance to finish before they got there the team acknowledges the work they completed, and continues the care from that point, all the way to the end of the patient's time in the hospital. This is how health care should be. Patient focused, let me say that again, patient focused.... Your ego is irrelevant, your skills, and your knowledge and your patient advocacy are vital, and are important. Communication about what is done and what isn't done is vital, and transferring care calmly, and efficiently is what is important.

Egos are dangerous friends, and it's time that nurses, and medics recognize that when we argue, or focus on the little imperfections of each other and act better than the other we are only hurting ourselves. As a team we are amazing together, we are a force to be reckoned with that make a huge impact on any situation. How do I know this? I know this because I have seen it, and the evidence shows that when we focus on the patient, the out come is always better.

As I said earlier, this is not the norm, but I believe that relationships between medics and nurses can and should be improved. Gentle ribbing of course is acceptable, but at the end of the day we have to recognize that our strength lies in the fact that our similarities give us synergy to enhance patient care, and our differences broaden the scope of care that we can provide. How is this ever a bad thing? It looks like a win win to me. The next time you are faced with a medic or a nurse that hasn't done everything that YOU deem is necessary think of this. You weren't with that patient five minutes ago, and their condition could be changing, also you have no idea what the situation was like before you arrived or before they arrived. Sometimes if things aren't done there is a reason, it may not seem like a good reason to you at the time, but instead of ostracizing them, focus on the patient and work together to enhance the patient's care. Put your ego aside, it only gets in the way. Ego gets in the way of intelligence and professionalism, and those are the two things the patient needs from you, be a team, work together, be part of the solution.