Why medical professionals have potty mouths

While Muzak plays (think Kenny G covering John Mayer) and courteous expressions like “excuse me” and “thank you” are exchanged in hospital waiting rooms, behind the front desk, angry patients are firing curse words into the hallway like their mouths are assault rifles with an endless supply of ammunition. Nurses are being cussed out by patients who sound like characters in “Platoon.” And medical professionals are dropping f-bombs. All of this would give the pearl-clutching crowd palpitations (and I know because I used to belong to the pearl-clutching crowd). I had a sheltered childhood, but I have learned that “the real world” is profane. And sometimes, it can feel like the only words to describe unspeakable things are words that are unspeakable in communities along “The Bible Belt.” Imagine seeing injuries sustained from a shotgun being inserted inside a woman and fired. The question on almost everyone’s lips is not, “Who was the reprehensible person who did this?” but, “What kind of sick f*ck does something like that?” Imagine being in an operating room with ten other people, and when the scalpel opens the patient’s belly, it sounds like a balloon popping and everyone in the room is instantly covered in poop. It is everywhere — the ceiling and walls, the surgeon’s glasses. It is quite literally as if the sh*t hit the fan. Put yourself in that room and then add to it that the person on the table is dying in front of you. What words...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Physician Emergency Source Type: blogs