I have a question and some thoughts-
Does emotion get in the way of providing care?
Now for my thoughts and personal experiences-
When I first got into emergency medicine 20 years ago, I actually cared and "felt" people's pain and sometimes paid the price for it after the incident (we didn't have crisis debriefing, etc in the beginning).
At some point I rose to the top 5% of my career field, was a successful and respected instructor, rock solid operator, but in order to get there I lost my sense of compassion- I was in it for the trauma and mayhem. By detaching from emotion I actually became a better practitioner, being able to make critical decisions without distractions.
And poof one day it happened- absolute burn out. I walked away from medicine altogether and switched career fields, but here lately I have been thinking of getting back into it.
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