Doctors get sick, but many times they do not follow the same guidelines that they themselves recommend to their patients. Many of them even appeal to a feeling of guilt that generates them not to go to their job. An article from the specialized magazine The BMJ Along with four experts, she addresses all the aspects surrounding this feeling and raises questions that can help manage it, such as what would they say to patients if they found themselves in the same situation as them.
Claire DaviesFamily doctor in London, collect in article that this feeling of guilt may be due to a feeling of responsibility “overdeveloped towards others” and comparison with others. This guilt, deep down, is often related to the impostor syndrome.
To better address this issue, the utility proposes answering four questions and thus giving a “healthier” response to guilt:
- What good is guilt?
- What answer might be more helpful?
- What answer would be kinder to you?
- What would you say to a patient in the same position?
Answering these questions acknowledges that it can be easy, but explains that there are still doctors who “struggle” to apply the answers to their own situation.
About this feeling of responsibility, Helen Garrmedical director of NHS Practitioner Health, details that it is not a lesson that they teach in medical schools, but that somewhere along the way “we have learned as a profession to feel guilty when we need time off”. This same responsibility defends that drives them to put other people and patients first, but with a risk that is not necessary to take. “We’re more likely to make a mistake at work when we’re sick. How would you feel if a pilot wasn’t feeling well and still flew the plane because he felt guilty for leaving?” he muses.
Often, this feeling is backed by an “unwavering need not to disappoint colleagues or patients,” according to this information from Garr’s words.
Companions are another of the key issues for this regret. the microbiologist Christine Peters pick up in this post The BMJ that a large part of the blame comes from being aware that their colleagues “will generally have to cover double duty”. This also means that patients may see their health care compromised. But he insists that staffing is the responsibility of leadership: “You can’t fix a broken system by spanking yourself.”
Helen Rice, a future family doctor in Culloden, says that recognizing the implications of working while sick has allowed her to take “a holistic approach and alleviate feelings of guilt.” As an example, she exposes when a physician puts colleagues and patients at risk by going to their workplace despite having an infectious disease. “You cannot care safely when your ability to function is affected by exhaustion, stress or poor health.”
A usual situation in the world
For a health worker to come to work sick is not such an unusual situation. This is reflected in a study of Medscape which indicates that the 85 percent of doctors they have done it at some time throughout 2022. In this study, they had the opinion of 2,347 physicians from the United States and abroad. It’s more, half of them came to his post with symptoms compatible with the flu or Covid-19.
Although it may contain statements, data or notes from health institutions or professionals, the information contained in Redacción Médica is edited and prepared by journalists. We recommend to the reader that any health-related questions be consulted with a health professional.
