Professional Pride

[scubanurse]

The overall problem with lack of pride in our, or any, profession is simply one of youth. And unless we took the drastic step of adding "age 30 or better" to the list of EMT requirements it's never going to change.

As someone who joined the fire service as a teenager and became an EMT-B at 17, I must disagree. I think pride is something that is instilled growing up and taught. From a very young age, my parents taught me that when I do something, I should take pride in what I do and do it well. Whenever I took a class for EMS, I did it to improve my skills and knowledge because I took pride in what I was doing. Washing out units and doing things as a station was taking pride in our company. I have seen plenty of middle-aged providers who are 30+ who just don't give a crap about their job anymore... Age isn't the sole factor in this situation...

[VentMedic]

I have seen plenty of middle-aged providers who are 30+ who just don't give a crap about their job anymore... Age isn't the sole factor in this situation...

You think 30 is middle-aged?

What do you call someone as old as spenac?

[Kookaburra]

You think 30 is middle-aged?

What do you call someone as old as spenac?

Methuselah, apparently.

[aussiephil]

Pride in the uniform comes from a number of different areas.

Firstly is self worth in you believing in what you are doing & can do it with confidence.

Secondly is the confidence you have in your colleagues.

Thirdly is the confidence that you have in managment & how they portray you in you community. If they do not value the job you do, that will be representative in your attitude across the board. No matter what they say, you will not have pride in what you do.

Priide in your profession (uniform) is directly controlled by morale & managment. If they do not have the balls to effectivly manage & give you the tools (including pay) why would you have 'Professional' Pride?

I have seen plenty of middle-aged providers who are 30+ who just don't give a crap about their job anymore... Age isn't the sole factor in this situation...

No, age isnt a sole factor, but those you describe as middle aged at 30+ ( ) have usually entered the profession early, lack realistic life experience & have become apathetic through a lack of support & motivation through an inexperienced managment team. A team that lacks conviction because they are more concerned with money (& profit) than effectivly supporting a workforce in a high stress, high burnout industry.

PS, even tho I am only 19 30 isnt that old!!!!!!

[Kookaburra]

PS, even tho I am only 19 30 isnt that old!!!!!!

I know a remarkable EMT-I who is over thirty, and on track to enter Med School in a year when her eldest enters High School. Life isn't over then by a long shot!

[Mateo_1387]

You think 30 is middle-aged?

What do you call someone as old as spenac?

A Relic

[spenac]

You think 30 is middle-aged?

What do you call someone as old as spenac?

Whys everybody always picking on me?

I just saw Vents picture in the world record book for oldest living person ever.

[scubanurse]

Okay poor wording on my part!!! Mea culpa! I was trying to use the OP wording of making EMT-B age requirement 30+... sorry guys!

[Niftymedi911]

I like, scoobykate, I was taught at a very young age, that do you everything to the best of your ability, you go above and beyond what your told or asked to do. And I still strongly believe in that.

When it comes to work related issues, it's also not just a sense in pride or professionalism. But another thing that goes hand in hand with the idea, is a work ethic. You might have pride or professionalism in your job, but without a work ethic, how can you truly define professionalism?

I think that some of the posters started to touch the surface with the Gen X / Y people. The younger generations of today really aren't taught in their homes work ethics, sound thought processes, or a self pride in what they do. It's all about what they can do to get by, live off mom and dad for as long as they can (lack of work ethic), and then wonder why the world has left them by.

Now for the older generations who work with the younger generations, they might have been taught a work ethic, might have been taught what was needed to be taught. But because of the influence of the younger generation with our profession, the older generation might decide that having too much of a work ethic, pride, or professionalism is out dated and overrated. (Now, I know most on here aren't but tell me this doesn't describe a lot of attitudes anymore).

As for myself, I don't get too easily influenced on my habits or morals. My truck is washed inside and out, disinfected, waxed, detailed checkouts, stations duties are performed as described. Everything is done as it is inteded to be, plus a little extra. Sometimes, I end up doing these things myself, because my partners don't feel the same way I do. But, my truck is my office, I take pride in what I do and I come to work TO WORK... (I know... I know.... that makes too much sense).

I beleiev it truly starts by instilling these morals and values while your young. Just because you switch jobs or professions at age 30 doesn't mean, you'll also just have an immediate sudden change of morals or values.

[Kookaburra]

I would say that pride in the people we serve is a very large part of professional pride. I admit, I have not been a good example in this area in the past, and I still find myself sometimes slipping into the mindset, but I think it's imperative that people in EMS work undergo a major attitude shift. How many times have you heard EMTs and Paramedics groan when dispatched to an address in a predominantly immigrant area of town? What about jokes about the "trailer trash" we often find ourselves serving? Griping about going into nursing homes, even though the vast majority of our patients are elderly? Treating people who don't speak English or geriatrics as if they are children, or too stupid to know what's going on? I did quite a bit of thinking about this last night, and I came to the conclusion that lots of our EMS slang is actually very disrespectful to our patients - "frequent flyer" for example. Sure, you could argue that it is supposed to reference people who call all the time for very minor difficulties, but I've never seen it used for someone like that. In my experience, the term has been used for addicts, the poor (who have no way to get to a hospital, and no way to pay for non-emergency care), people with mental disabilities, elderly individuals with chronic conditions, in short: the forgotten of our society. Personally, I'm going to work to purge that term from my vocabulary.

Here's a short list off the top of my head of things I have heart EMS and Fire Service workers either state in person or write about in various Internet media:

-Joking about sexually assaulting minors in the back of the ambulance.

-Joking about taking Spanish-speaking patients across the border and leaving them in Mexico.

-Saying that a homeless "frequent flier" should just die already.

-Saying that an incontinent elderly gay man must have been "quite a bitch" in his younger days.

We all have our moments of ugliness, when a cruel thought comes into our heads (yes, it's a natural human reaction to frustration and weariness, but that doesn't mean it's right), but EMS seems to be an echo-chamber for those thoughts and words. If the industry truly had pride in who it serves, such attitudes and language would be unheard of, and regarded as utter nonsense. In addition, an attitude shift to one of service and pride would undoubtedly bring a trend of EMS/Fire clamoring for more education. After all, with pride invested in our patients, we would want to be able to give them the best care possible, not just "good enough" care.