“I am a doctor for God’s sake. I just want you to get better. I want to save your life and help you get back on your feet and go back home to your family, safe and cured. Please trust me, let me treat you,” yelled Dr Kapil Kumar while talking to a COVID patient. The patient in question wants to leave the hospital and had been giving the nurses a very hard time. To top that he refused to obey the instructions of the doctor and behaved arrogantly with him. He is a well-placed NRI businessman who had been brought through the Vande Bharat flights and since he showed symptoms of corona, had been quarantined in the hospital.
Many doctors and healthcare workers have faced the 'struggle' of making patients understand the urgency and the need for being quarantined. But, as easy as it sounds, making the patients go against their will of staying with everyone, is the hardest thing for the doctors to do right now. Such patients leave healthcare professionals feeling incapable of doing their jobs efficiently. It also leads to self-respect issues.
“I know it must be stressful for patients to stay away from their family with concerns about the fear of death, uncertainty about their future and providing their families with their basic needs, very dominant. Honestly, I would have the same worries if I was a patient. But, that in no ways justifies irresponsible and arrogant behaviour of the patients. I am here to make a change in this damnation. I desperately want to help, but I won’t be if patients do not cooperate.
As a doctor, all the patients and their families, expect us to have the answers and solutions for all the illnesses. But with the coronavirus, we are scared about the worsening situation ourselves. And in this whole ambiguity when the patients are not willing to adhere to the protocols, I literally start questioning my existence and importance. I know what’s good for the patient and the society, I want them to get better and leave as soon as possible, but it is so hard to convince them. It takes up all my energy, convincing them to do things that are good for them. Many patients—even those who are vulnerable—want to go back home and believe that they will be able to cure themselves with home remedies and isolation. They can work, no doubt, but what if it does not work and the patient’s health deteriorates. I will be blamed by everyone and even by myself.
Right now, I am not just treating the patients physically but mentally as well. While prescribing them the right medicines, I have this need to get into their minds and make them understand the importance of quarantining themselves. I have convinced myself to save lives, but how do I convince the people whose lives I want to save to trust in me and not make me feel like a worthless addition in the pandemic?”