Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Are administrators disciplining doctors who wear masks too often?

Mia Marietta, MD
Conditions
March 22, 2020
355 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share

We are in crisis. Hospitals have become, in addition to repositories for the pandemic, infectious with moral illness.

From an emergency medical physician:

I have been told not to wear a mask in every room, only in rooms of people with infectious symptoms. And we are talking about [just] a surgical mask. I have emails saying this, and they go on to say no outside masks from home unless they are simple surgical masks. I have replied saying that I absolutely will be wearing a mask and eye protection in every room.

Under the guise of maintaining “normalcy” amongst both staff and the public, administrators are rushing to suppress any protective measures they deem to be anxiety-provoking, at the blatant expense of health care worker safety.

This, frankly, is corona roulette; it is unclear who will become infected, and, of that subset, who will go on to become severely ill or even die. Further, it is uncertain who constitutes an asymptomatic carrier. Conventional wisdom would dictate all precautionary measures on deck, not a relaxation of standards.

“They are being reprimanded for protecting themselves. There is a Facebook group of administrators discussing how to rein in their doctors who disobey.”

Physicians and other health care workers will die. They will die in greater numbers than statistics would suggest from the virus alone. Healthy, vibrant, health care workers who will become acutely ill and fail all measures to save them.

“We have been warned by administrators that if we are caught wearing masks when not seeing a confirmed COVID, disciplinary action will be taken.”

“I was told it would upset the staff [to wear masks].”

“They writing up workers wearing a mask in hallways. They even denied a surgeon bringing them in for their staff.”

This. Over and over. Variations on the same theme. In fact, on an equally chilling note, the American Hospital Association has submitted a plea to Nancy Pelosi to have OSHA withdraw workplace safety standards. The argument is that they will be “impossible to implement.”  They are asking for OSHA to issue an “emergency temporary standard.” This new standard would remove all safety nets and leave workers with no recourse at all when working in this caustic environment. In addition, loosening workplace safety requirements would immediately create a greater risk to the public.

In a time when we need to pull together and demonstrate the most altruistic, humane versions of ourselves, we are discovering that appearance trumps safety, PR prevails over protection, and our value as a health care worker is farcical.

Mia Marietta is a surgeon.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

Infection preventionists are true heroes, and other things we've learned so far

March 22, 2020 Kevin 0
…
Next

Doctors will die. My friends will die.

March 22, 2020 Kevin 3
…

Tagged as: COVID, Infectious Disease

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Infection preventionists are true heroes, and other things we've learned so far
Next Post >
Doctors will die. My friends will die.

More by Mia Marietta, MD

  • Physicians and health care workers are expendable pawns in the game of corona roulette

    Mia Marietta, MD

Related Posts

  • Why do doctors who hate being doctors still practice?

    Kristin Puhl, MD
  • Doctors: It’s time to unionize

    Thomas D. Guastavino, MD
  • When doctors are right

    Sophia Zilber
  • We’re doctors. We signed the book.

    Jonathan Peters, MD
  • Why doctors-in-training need better nutritional education

    Abeer Arain, MD, MPH
  • Who says doctors don’t care?

    Cindy Thompson

More in Conditions

  • From hope to heartbreak: a story of loss in the ICU

    Ton La, Jr., MD, JD
  • The beauty of a patient’s gratitude

    Dr. Damane Zehra
  • From clocking in to clocking out: the transition to retirement

    Debbie Moore-Black, RN
  • Overcoming Parkinson’s: a journey of laughter and resilience

    Cynthia Poire Mathews, FNP
  • The untold struggles patients face with resident doctors

    Denise Reich
  • Maximize sleep efficiency with stimulus control

    Pedram Navab, DO
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The untold struggles patients face with resident doctors

      Denise Reich | Conditions
    • Physicians are a finite resource we need to protect

      Jack Resneck, Jr., MD | Physician
    • Beyond pizza and pens: National Doctors’ Day should be about saving lives

      James Young, MD | Physician
    • From clocking in to clocking out: the transition to retirement

      Debbie Moore-Black, RN | Conditions
    • Collaborating with occupational therapists: a game-changer for behavioral health [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Telemedicine in the opioid crisis: a game-changer threatened by DEA regulations

      Julie Craig, MD | Meds
  • Past 6 Months

    • The real cause of America’s opioid crisis: Doctors are not to blame

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
    • Nobody wants this job. Should physicians stick around?

      Katie Klingberg, MD | Physician
    • The fight for reproductive health: Why medication abortion matters

      Catherine Hennessey, MD | Physician
    • It’s time for C-suite to contract directly with physicians for part-time work

      Aaron Morgenstein, MD & Corinne Sundar Rao, MD | Physician
    • Resetting the doctor-patient relationship: Navigating the challenges of modern primary care

      Jeffrey H. Millstein, MD | Physician
    • The untold struggles patients face with resident doctors

      Denise Reich | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • Collaborating with occupational therapists: a game-changer for behavioral health [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Breaking the cycle of failure in modern medicine

      Kortney West, MD | Physician
    • ChatGPT: the Napster of the AI world?

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Tech
    • The missing piece of physicians’ financial plans

      Daniel B. Wrenne, CFP | Finance
    • Counterfeit drugs: a hidden danger lurking in your medicine cabinet

      Emily Kahoud | Meds
    • How understanding cultural backgrounds can lead to better patient care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 10 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

CME Spotlights

From MedPage Today

Latest News

  • Is Surgery Riskier After a COVID Infection?
  • The Best Medicine for Healthcare Workers: A Living Wage
  • Meat Consumption and UTIs; Air Pollution's Effects on Health
  • 'Early Birds' With Sleep Apnea May Get More CPAP Benefits
  • Mental Health Care Goes Beyond Just the Patient

Meeting Coverage

  • VTE Risk in Recurrent Ovarian Cancer Increases With More Lines of Chemotherapy
  • Obesity's Impact on Uterine Cancer Risk Greater in Younger Age Groups
  • Oral Roflumilast Effective in the Treatment of Plaque Psoriasis
  • Phase III Trials 'Hit a Home Run' in Advanced Endometrial Cancer
  • Cannabis Use Common in Post-Surgery Patients on Opioid Tapering
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The untold struggles patients face with resident doctors

      Denise Reich | Conditions
    • Physicians are a finite resource we need to protect

      Jack Resneck, Jr., MD | Physician
    • Beyond pizza and pens: National Doctors’ Day should be about saving lives

      James Young, MD | Physician
    • From clocking in to clocking out: the transition to retirement

      Debbie Moore-Black, RN | Conditions
    • Collaborating with occupational therapists: a game-changer for behavioral health [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Telemedicine in the opioid crisis: a game-changer threatened by DEA regulations

      Julie Craig, MD | Meds
  • Past 6 Months

    • The real cause of America’s opioid crisis: Doctors are not to blame

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
    • Nobody wants this job. Should physicians stick around?

      Katie Klingberg, MD | Physician
    • The fight for reproductive health: Why medication abortion matters

      Catherine Hennessey, MD | Physician
    • It’s time for C-suite to contract directly with physicians for part-time work

      Aaron Morgenstein, MD & Corinne Sundar Rao, MD | Physician
    • Resetting the doctor-patient relationship: Navigating the challenges of modern primary care

      Jeffrey H. Millstein, MD | Physician
    • The untold struggles patients face with resident doctors

      Denise Reich | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • Collaborating with occupational therapists: a game-changer for behavioral health [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Breaking the cycle of failure in modern medicine

      Kortney West, MD | Physician
    • ChatGPT: the Napster of the AI world?

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Tech
    • The missing piece of physicians’ financial plans

      Daniel B. Wrenne, CFP | Finance
    • Counterfeit drugs: a hidden danger lurking in your medicine cabinet

      Emily Kahoud | Meds
    • How understanding cultural backgrounds can lead to better patient care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today iMedicalApps
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Are administrators disciplining doctors who wear masks too often?
10 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...