“The things that happen during surgery once you’re lights out can be kinda gnarly. If your surgical site is above the neck, they’ll staple the first layer of drapes to your head and face so they don’t slide off.”

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Note: Some responses were pulled from this Reddit thread by u/Recent_Independent_6.

"Can’t do that when you’re answering phones because the hospital is too cheap to pay unit secretaries! I witnessed drunk surgeons doing rounds and had to physically stop an inebriated surgeon from torturing a patient while trying to insert a central line at the bedside! He took my advice and ordered a PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) line."

"What should have happened was that the heart attack patient should have taken precedence over the elective procedure, or they should have sent the patient to another facility for immediate treatment. That wouldn't happen because the hospital would lose money. It's a disgusting field."

"Are there pumps that prevent this? Yes, but the big companies that sell the dangerous pumps just throw all kinds of other free stuff at the hospital to keep their business. Hard to say they care about patients when 70% of hospitals still use these gravity pumps even during these events. You can't be vigilant enough when you are in a hospital."

"We put her in an exam room, and her temperature was 103. She was given meds to stop the vomiting, and a urine test was done; she had a serious urinary tract infection. Her mother told us that her child was never examined and had no testing done. She was just given Tylenol and discharged. After these incidents, I stopped sending my patients to this hospital. This particular hospital has a residency program for family medicine physicians."

"We are expected to fill these roles to make their staffing issues less troublesome for them, but the opposite can never be expected from these roles for a nurse. For example, you will never see a social worker, housekeeper, child life specialist, formula room, bio-med, security, distribution, IS, or engineering giving meds, turning patients, feeding patients, ambulating with patients, bathing, or changing a patient."

"I worked for 35 years and was a contract specialty nurse. I traveled to 32 states and three other countries. I'm now retired, but I'm thinking about how I can best serve others. Currently, I'm leaning on teaching holistic care to help reach a bigger audience because health insurance is going through the roof, even more so than now."

"Those tiny things can cause you a significant injury while you're under anesthesia and unable to move, so we have to be very, very attentive to those details on your behalf."

"These interactions happen every single day, all day, all over the country. I wish that patients knew how hard we fight sometimes to keep them safe from harm."

"If you have a DMO (Dental Maintenance Organization), you're out of luck; you're not a priority as a patient. They will cancel, reschedule, or simply move your appointment and tell you that you came in on the wrong day. Hell, they schedule Medicaid and Medicare work over DMO's since they literally get pennies for anything they do on a DMO patient. ALWAYS get a card from them with your appointment date! ...

Research your dentists on your state's professional or medical websites; you'll be amazed at how many times they almost lost their license, have orders against them, or how many times they received a failing grade for proficiency or cleanliness. The support staff is no better. That person in charge of making certain all the instruments are clean, and you don't get sick from them, is the lowest-paid position in an office. Your hygienist, only seeing patients where they get the most money, probably couldn't care less about you. That nice, old doctor you currently go to and have seen for 30 years; he probably can't pass a state test and is under a provisional order limiting his practice.

Dentures, crowns and bridges, implants: $5K, $10K, $20K. Yeah, you would be amazed at the cost of the supplies to provide you with this service. For implants, the total cost of materials, including lab work, is $300–$1K. For a top-of-the-line denture that they will sell you for a few thousand, it costs them under $100.

Good luck, and remember, they care about you — NOT!"

"Because of how sick patients have to be to get a room in this CCU, all we can do is keep you going long enough to figure out how you want to face your end. We can get you home, but the next time you come into the hospital could be the last time. So, figure your life out."

"(I.e., Do you need your heart monitored constantly? Do you need frequent vital signs checks? Etc.). So please, when we hold you in the PACU, we're not ignoring you. We don't want you there any more than you want to be there."

"3.) To end with something more lighthearted, not all babies are cute. I can always find something to say about any baby, but if I say your baby is beautiful, I mean it."

"Why a healthcare shortage? That's why. The first thing to fix the problem is to care for those who render care. But, who cares anymore??????"

"No wonder we can't find good primary care doctors and rely on other providers. The future seems bleak if nothing changes. We are no longer the best medical system in the world."

"And this can be extended to all realms of medicine and all levels of medical providers. All we ask is that you have a little grace and understanding, and know that if it takes a while for us to get to you, it's because there are much sicker people we need to see first. It's a good thing if you're lower on the priority list — it means you aren't dying.

Also, doctors, especially younger ones, aren't rich. We are usually half a million dollars in debt when we get out of medical training. So, while we get a big paycheck, we are playing catch-up on bills, car payments, student loans, etc. Many of us know what it's like to struggle with poverty and live paycheck to paycheck. Please know we sympathize with you and will do what we can to minimize costs so that you don't have any extra burden, because we've been there."

Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.