Break Time

"Now that you're here, do you mind if I take my break now?"  These are not the words of a fast food worker, but rather words spoken by one member to another of the nursing staff  involved in the care of a hospital  patient who was being prepared for a medical  procedure.  Workplace breaks are essential and indeed mandated by law, but it would seem appropriate if the scheduling of breaks was pre-arranged, or at very least done out of earshot of the patient.   No patient wants or  expects a lasting relationship with a hospital care employee, but it would be much more reassuring if the person tending to your needs,especially prior to your being administered anesthesia, seemed to be paying attention to what was going on in the room, not contemplating an escape from it. 
    A study was conducted a number of years ago assessing the number of hours worked by  medical students training to become doctors.  The consensus was that the long shifts were responsible for extreme fatigue, and that exhaustion may well have been responsible for the occurrence of medical errors.  As a result of the study's findings, the mandated number of hours was reduced.  A new study based on the shortened shift worked by the doctors was recently released.  This follow-up study showed that the number of medical errors did not decrease when the shifts were shorter, but in actuality increased.  The conclusion being drawn is that shorter shifts mean more frequent handoffs of patients from  doctor to doctor and that means more room for error.  Less individual commitment equates with less responsibility; "I was only here for a short time."
   A patient is admitted to a hospital  room.   A white-board on the wall in front of the patient's bed is the sign-in area for whatever personnel will be taking care of the  patient that day.  There may be a half dozen or more names in the course of the day, the names being erased as those staff members  fulfill their duties.  The idea is to help the patient keep track of who their caretakers are; in effect, the patient knows that Amy or Ann, or Ali was here, but with one swipe of an eraser has disappeared without  a trace.