[natpalmer1776]

And yet they do nothing for the auxiliary staff that the medical industry demands to provide the unskilled labor that often play a critical role in patient outcome.

Please do me a favor (yes, me, the stranger on the internet) and look up how much a CNA makes at your local hospital, and compare that to the cost of living for your area. Now check how much your facilities staff makes.

I know you’re talking about the AMA, and I know my grievances are not necessarily well directed at that organization, but I’m at a loss as to where change for these critical workers will come from if not the physicians who hold the most leverage against the bean counters.

Turning patients to prevent bed sores, emptying catheters, providing the most basic of care all falls down to the CNA in a modern clinical setting, who in my wife’s firsthand experience makes less than a barista at Starbucks. Literally, she left her CNA job doing all of the above and more, to make more as a Barista. Your auxiliary staff is critical in preventing hospital acquired infections, and ensuring adequate care is provided for vulnerable patients who cannot assist themselves.

If you get the opportunity, go to your nearest oncology ward and interview some of the CNA staff about their experience as a CNA. Ask them how often a nurse is available to assist with turning a bariatric patient. There is a world of exploitative labor below you, supporting the high profit margins of the American medical system.