Ironically, behind all this is a misconception that we’re actually constantly working on with our patients. The truth is that the clinics would function better and we could offer better therapy if, for example, we weren’t so overworked and enough staff were employed. But in order to achieve this, we would have to make decisions again and again in specific cases, which are less pleasant for patients in the short term. Specifically: saying no to our employers more often, strikes, and in the worst case resignation. Sensible in the long term, unpleasant in the short term. For our patients. And that’s the crux of it.
Unfortunately it is always easier to discover those mistakes in the thinking of others. I have met dozens of colleagues who avoid fighting for better working conditions for precisely these reasons (while advising their patients to avoid this error in particular). And clinics of course know this and take advantage of it.
So better negotiation skills are really only party of the solution (although also very important). I think in the long term we need better education and more focus on socialist ideas, specifically on how and why employee rights (and the ability to self-care) are such an integral requirement to a job well done.
Fantastic thought-provoking points here. You’re right, that’s something I had kinda forgotten about when I wrote before:
Helping-professionals are (ideally) in those professions to help people, so their employers essentially hold patients/clients/students up as shields.
You’re right, to change things would require a cultural shift that sees providers as “people” rather than “services.” But generally it would be an extremely difficult PR war to sell to the people who require such services.
The soulless bosses are basically comic book villains: They know heroes will put themselves at considerable risk for the greater good, but won’t risk the harming of innocents…
…so the greedy ownership class hides behind those innocents and, what’s worse, trains them to accept such a low standard that any action that would drop that standard would turn the peoples’ anger against the heroes who already sacrifice so much to help them.
I hate not knowing what to do past understanding what’s so wrong. :(
Ironically, behind all this is a misconception that we’re actually constantly working on with our patients. The truth is that the clinics would function better and we could offer better therapy if, for example, we weren’t so overworked and enough staff were employed. But in order to achieve this, we would have to make decisions again and again in specific cases, which are less pleasant for patients in the short term. Specifically: saying no to our employers more often, strikes, and in the worst case resignation. Sensible in the long term, unpleasant in the short term. For our patients. And that’s the crux of it.
Unfortunately it is always easier to discover those mistakes in the thinking of others. I have met dozens of colleagues who avoid fighting for better working conditions for precisely these reasons (while advising their patients to avoid this error in particular). And clinics of course know this and take advantage of it.
So better negotiation skills are really only party of the solution (although also very important). I think in the long term we need better education and more focus on socialist ideas, specifically on how and why employee rights (and the ability to self-care) are such an integral requirement to a job well done.
Fantastic thought-provoking points here. You’re right, that’s something I had kinda forgotten about when I wrote before:
Helping-professionals are (ideally) in those professions to help people, so their employers essentially hold patients/clients/students up as shields.
You’re right, to change things would require a cultural shift that sees providers as “people” rather than “services.” But generally it would be an extremely difficult PR war to sell to the people who require such services.
The soulless bosses are basically comic book villains: They know heroes will put themselves at considerable risk for the greater good, but won’t risk the harming of innocents…
…so the greedy ownership class hides behind those innocents and, what’s worse, trains them to accept such a low standard that any action that would drop that standard would turn the peoples’ anger against the heroes who already sacrifice so much to help them.
I hate not knowing what to do past understanding what’s so wrong. :(