Hospital Humour

Just came back from handling a particularly fractious patient and it's quite a relief to return to find the computer utterly abandoned, alienated and alone. Gotta take a short break before the next case since it took all my patience and bedside charm to talk the patient out of tearing apart his restraints and making a desperate run for it - a bit difficult especially when I'd have probably done the same in his position. :)

Unwillingly dragged kicking and screaming from home by his concerned relatives, the poor octogenarian found himself practically interred in the ward for days. Finding himself stuffed with needles and medical thingamajigs certainly wasn't on his to-do list. The grumpy geriatric never expected to have such a young, funny doctor ( his words, not mine! ) and it amused me to hear his cantankerous comments - since it isn't the first time I've heard it. Well, the funny part, I mean. The surprisingly youthful comment actually tempted me to call for an urgent opthalmological referral since I've never looked the part of the baby-faced twink, even in my heydays. Then again, for a man his age, everyone's probably a kid.

Somehow it always surprises me to hear that most laypeople expect physicians to be dull, serious-minded wet blankets with no life away from the hospital. It's not too far from the truth since I have to admit that the majority of doctors are boring, tight-assed fuddy-duddies ( since the motley crew's generally composed of overly ambitious nerds with some aptitude for science ) but occasionally we do find a jokesmith Patch Addams or even some of the hilarious folk from Scrubs. Nature needs to find a reasonable balance after all.


These doctors do clean up real good, don't they?
Even I have to admit that the nature of our humour is a tad morbid - and possibly not accepted amongst the general population ( who would be rightfully horrified by the things we say! ) - but it still helps to release some of the tension and stress buildup. Just think of the odd quirky moments in Grey's Anatomy and you'll get the general idea. Light-hearted banter about dead men walking, flying limbs and perforated bowels might be unpalatable to the public but it can bring a smile to even the sternest resident. Otherwise life here in the hospital would be intolerably dull - and it's possible that the rate of job burnout / suicide amongst doctors would rise exponentially.