one of my patients made an observation the other day:

'wah! you all seem very understaffed hor? i notice all of you nurses walk up and down very fast! have you had lunch?'

as i hand over his request for a urinal and screen the curtains, i steal a glance at the mirror that's just beside his bed. i'm sweating, my uniform is stained with body fluids of an unknown source, and the supposedly 'super-hold' product that holds my hair in its well-coiffed place is not working that well. the words to describe what i see are 'overworked' and 'starving'. because i haven't had lunch. or breakfast even.

but it always seems to be the case that the typical hospital in Singapore being a severely understaffed place of employment. the fact that the registered nurse in Singapore takes care of twelve patients on average per shift, covers a broader job scope than their (insert random country) colleagues and has a salary that is equivalent to your typical desk-bound office person... i would say it's not very encouraging at all. top that off with the hospital's never-ending emphasis on service-oriented care and you have a crisis in the making. the only things that keep me sane in this job is prolly coffee, and of course, my lovely little sticks of Viceroy.

obviously, not everyone is like me, a big reliant on coffee and cigarettes. i guess, this is why MC (medical certificate) rates are so high in the hospital. every week, there's bound to be someone who takes an MC. don't get me wrong though, i'm not against MCs. in fact, i'm all FOR MCs if you're not feeling that well or perhaps overworked. there's a catch though: everyone else at work has to cover for you when you take that luxurious day off to recover. and this is what starts of the vicious cycle of MCs. the lack of manpower leads to work stress which leads to tired nurses which leads to people falling sick easily which leads to them actually falling sick which ends up with more MCs. and it repeats all over again!

if you ask me though, this is actually the perfect excuse for the tonsillitis-prone me, to take an MC every two months. besides, i am entitled to 14 days of medical leave, why not make full use of it? and i'm not intending to stay with this hospital forever, so i couldn't care less what it thinks of me too.

thus it was with oh-so-great 'reluctance' that i took an MC on Sunday for tonsillitis. i woke up that day feeling crappier than i normally would. my throat was aching like i ignored my gag reflex and swallowed a twelve inch dick the night before. and i had puffy eyes that couldn't be covered with dollops of concealer. all classic signs and symptoms of a bout of tonsillitis for me. which was very agreeable with me, because i haven't had a luxury day off in a very long time. plus, i could skip church given that my body picked a Sunday to fall sick.

why then, the inverted commas accompanying reluctance?

well, remember my anti-team sentiments? i expected the dirty looks when i returned to work the next day. and true enough, my supervisor shot me one (attached with a comment on smoking leading to tonsillitis). several colleagues shot me another few (which i will remember to shoot back to them in due time). but that's the thing about being Asian. everyone else expects you to work as hard as themselves. so much so that taking a break is considered as taboo. many times have i heard of colleagues being rejected for scholarships because of their high MC rates. this is despite a stellar record of good work performance and commendable feedback from many patients.

which brings to mind several questions: when it comes to performance indicators, should MC rates be considered as a factor for rating? is there even something wrong with taking a break when you're not feeling well? or does this whole vicious cycle of MCs come about, simply because of the nature of work in the busy Singaporean hospital setting?

none the less, i had the best rest i had in days, albeit a little drowzy (post-flu medications). and i managed to get some blogging done too. so i think it's beneficial for everyone (including this blog's readers) that i took an MC, no?

---