Anyone who has ever listened to a single piece of information about the United States' healthcare system knows that it's in dire need of reform—but sometimes only those who have worked on the inside know how deep the problems go.
Social media influencer, traveler and residential nurse Lex Hinkley recently has had a lot to say about the current state of the United States healthcare system, and a lot of it has been heart-wrenchingly eye-opening.
The "Traveling Nurse" has worked in the healthcare industry for the past four years across seven U.S. states, and her negative experiences have been consistent across all of those locations.
Currently based in San Diego, the TikToker confessed in a recent video how difficult it is to stay moral in the industry.
"It is virtually impossible to be an ethical healthcare worker in this extremely unethical healthcare system."
"The amount of times I've had to discharge patients back to situations where I knew they weren't going to be able to take care of themselves but I had no other options is truly too hard to even give a number to."
"If my career as a healthcare worker has done anything to my worldview or life, it has simply radicalized me further than anyone could believe."
As much as the influencer believes that "healthcare is a human right," it's questionable how much the system believes it.
"I've seen varying levels of this happen at every single hospital I've worked at. I've been a nurse for four years. I've worked in seven states."
"It is happening everywhere, and if you think your hospital is different, you're f**king wrong."
"Recently, as of December, hospitals in Louisville, Kentucky, came under fire for leaving patients outside on f**king sidewalks."
"They do this in front of shelters. They will drop patients off in front of shelters just like this, but sometimes they don't even take them to the shelter. They literally leave them right outside the hospital."
"This specific patient was left in this condition in 36-degree weather."
Hinkley points out that this system of "patient dumping" is caused by defunding related social programs, thus putting pressure for all care—rather than just emergencies—on hospital emergency rooms.
"When you defund social programs, it all ends up in the ER."
"When you defund senior care, when you defund psychiatric care, when you defund shelters, whether it's homeless shelters or women's shelters, when you defund the safety nets that our society needs to prevent people from beginning a crisis downward spiral, they end up in the ER."
"And simply put, ER workers and hospital workers are already at their f**king wits' end. We cannot act as a catchall for every single issue in society. And yet, we are...here we are doing it."
The Traveling Nurse points out the most obvious solution, which is to put money back into these other programs.
"At the very f**king same time, treating people like literal f**king garbage should never f**king happen."
"The only way to fix situations as unethical and disgusting as this from happening is to fund solutions. We need to fund proper safety nets for our society."
"In this country, if you lose your job, you lose your health insurance, you potentially lose all of your income, which means you're not going to be able to pay rent. Well, then, what happens if you get sick?"
"Do you see what I'm saying? We don't have safety nets for our poor in this country."
"We have a greased chute, and at the very bottom of that greased chute of poverty is a trip to your local emergency room because everything ends up in the ER, and then we have nowhere to place people."
"There are solutions for these problems, but they cost money. They COST. MONEY."
"And we as a society, have said that we're A-OK with 400 people having 70% of the nation's wealth while our community members get treated like this."
Some fellow nurses agreed that what Hinkley was saying was exactly what was happening.
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Nurses agreed that their moral injury was incredibly high as well, knowing they needed to help more without having the resources or systemic power to do so.
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Others in the healthcare system confirmed it was a problem throughout the entire system, as well.
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And a few pointed out that this was impacting children as well—and their needs were being carried into equally unequipped classrooms.
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It's clear that something needs to change, and fast.
But without the proper funding to these other programs, people really have no choice but to try to have their needs met in the emergency room.
As long as the system works like this, people who need further care won't be able to receive it beyond the scope of the emergency room, and they'll continue to slow the process of care for those who really need the emergency room in a timely matter.
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