The Waiting Room

For our Journalism class our instructors asked us all to go to Cinematheque to watch the documentary film ‘The Waiting Room’.

‘The Waiting Room’ is an intimate invitation that takes a look at “24 hours, 241 patients, and one stretched ER,” as director Peter Nicks describes it on the movie’s website whatruwaitingfor.com.

It is a documentary film that does not glamorize nor play down the American health care system in a public emergency room of Highland Hospital in Oakland, California.

Unlike other documentarians, such as Michael Moore and his take on the American health care system in ‘SiCKO’, Nicks allows the story to be told straight from those who are directly effected by the American healthcare system, the patients, the families, and the doctors.

The story is driven through its 81 minutes by those people with the use of voice overs.  You never hear or get the idea of Nicks point of view on the topic because you never hear his voice, and the editing is done well enough that there are no outright clues within the film either. This gives the story a very fair, but edited, telling of the actual events that go on in one given day in the emergency room in Oakland with the camera being seemingly invisible.

At the beginning of the film you are introduced to many different stories of what brought certain people to the emergency room that day. After hearing about their stories you are immediately introduced to the doctors.

Having this shown at the beginning of the movie (especially editing it so it’s right after all the waiting room stories) Nicks shows that both parties are really on the same side, the only hint of Nicks possible point of view. Nicks even separately captures the patients and the doctors speaking about the flaws in the system.

Two of the hospital staff members that stood out to me were Dr. Douglas White and Cynthia Y. Johnson. Dr. White, is a Resident at the hospital, and is shown caring deeply about his patients. I like to believe this is something that wasn’t acted out for the camera. He advocates for one of his patients and makes a phone call to work a deal for them in the benefit of their health.

Johnson is a Certified Nurse Assistant who was the crowd pleaser. She has a personality that put smiles on the people in the waiting rooms face as she triages them, but she wasn’t afraid to put those who challenged her in their place when needed. In my opinion she stole the show.

The most compelling story of the patients though was that of Eric Morgan. He is a 20-something year old man who has come to Highland Hospital to have treatment for a testicular tumor.

The most shocking of his story though was what brought him to Highland. The hospital he went to before was all set to do surgery on him and then cancelled it the morning of because he didn’t have the money or coverage for the said “urgent” surgery. So he went to Highland and still wasn’t able to get the proper treatment because he did not have the funds to do so.

There are no sit down interviews throughout the documentary. I believe this lets the overall story, and sub-stories of the patients, grow naturally, which in turn is compelling to the audience more so then if it was interrupted by the interviews in a formal sit down format.

Overall as a documentary Nicks crafted the health care story well in a way that isn’t overwhelmingly screaming it’s side at the audience. However, it doesn’t provoke any debate after its 81 minutes is finished. The film is very much on the fence and doesn’t evoke questions other than those of how the patients ended up.

My mother is a nurse at St. Boniface Hospital so I have always been hearing about her opinions and stories regarding health care and hospitals since I was little. She has even had to deal with some of my health problems in the American as well as the obvious Canadian system.

One story that she told me, that I thought had to be made up, was dealing with the American health care system. We were on a family trip in Florida when I was around three years old and I got really sick and needed to go to the ER. Before the doctors would see me they gave my mom forms to fill out and asked for a credit card. I was three and in severe need of care, and the first thing they asked my mom was what her credit card number was.

Fast forward to this past summer when I broke my wrist. I was playing soccer when the ball hit my wrist hard enough to break it. I went to a hospital’s ER that night and after 10 hours of waiting with my mom we left.

The triage nurse was nothing like Johnson and wouldn’t even x-ray my noticeably offset wrist.

I understand that I would be low on the wait list but next to me was a guy who was profusely vomiting and across from him was a guy with part of his finger cut off. We all came in around the same time and all waited the same amount of time as well, and the only progress that was made that night was watching Brent Hayden win bronze in swimming at the Summer Olympics.

I am only using ER examples because that is what the movie was about. Regarding preventative care I have had nothing but good experiences, but when emergencies come around that changes.

Health Canada says on their website, “The basics remain the same – universal coverage for medically necessary health care services provided on the basis of need, rather than the ability to pay.”

One thing that I am most proud of in Canada is the fact that health care is free. I believe asking for someone to show you their pocket book before they check your heart beat is disrespectful to the citizens in your country, and I understand baggers can’t be choosers so I understand why the waiting list is there.

Canada has a publicly funded system opposed to America’s more privatized program. In the panel discussion after the movie Robert Chernomas mentioned how the Canadian health care system will slowly start looking more like the American system in the years to come.

He mentioned how Stephen Harper’s Health Accord will begin funding at a lower level and the province will have to pick up the slack. Also it was mentioned by Chernomas that, “It is not an economic problem it is a political problem”.

I hope that if this is true that they find a way to make already put in place programs more feasible so the wait times can be cut down. I understand that there will be wait times regardless, but there has to be a line so a man with a piece of his finger missing can get in to see a doctor before they can’t help him anymore.

Manitoba Health states on their website that, “Research shows that more funding alone will not result in shorter waits times. Long-term changes, such as the development of clearly defined standards for treatment, improved information management and more efficient use of existing resources will help ensure patients get appropriate and timely care.”

Both systems aren’t perfect and I don’t expect them to be. Nothing like that can be perfect when there are so many factors working against it. I just hope for the sake of the patients, the families, and the doctors that something is worked out so 20-something  year old man with a testicular tumor, a man profusely vomiting, another with a mangled finger, and a 20-something year old girl with a bad soccer wound can all find the help they need without cost, whether it be time or money.

Nom. Nom. Nom. Study. Nom.

Lets set the scene. You get off school at, lets say, 4 o’clock. You throw your backpack to the wind. Take a much needed nap, cause 9 to 5 is still not natural for you. Then you get up, and you finally feel like you should do something productive with your night. Time to get that backpack and buckle down.

However, I don’t know about you but this is where my stomach normally starts to rumble. Not because the sight of my to-do list makes me nauseous, well maybe that, but because homework means snack time for me.

But you know what Tostitos, even if they are multi-grain, aren’t the healthiest if you eat half the bag, neither are the bowls of candy and ice cream.

So here is the tip for this week.. some healthy homework snack options!

1) Mixture of frozen/fresh fruit

• Simple and easy to eat. It gives you the feeling of eating chips (because of the one after another consumption pattern) but it’s a million times better for you then chips. That is a scientific fact proven by Sommerfield Science Institute.

2) Smoothie

• Building off of the fruit, smoothies are a good way to get the same benefits of the mixed fruits without getting your fingers dirty and has the added calcium.

• Simple recipe I make for my sister and myself:
  • 1 broken up banana
  • 1- 2 cups of frozen fruit (depending on size of fruit)
  • 1/2 cup of Yogurt
  • 1/2 cup of Orange juice
  • 1 cup of milk
  • 2 cups of crushed ice

Blend to perfection.

3) Almonds, Dark chocolate chips, and Craisins

• You get omega 3 fats with the almonds; You get antioxidants with the chocolate; You get the nice taste with the Craisins. What’s not to love. Triple win.

4) Baked apple with cinnamon

5) Hummus and veggies. Hummus and chips. Hummus and everything.

Mo’ Music Mo’ (or less) Problems?

I was just doing homework tonight (shocker I know) and I realized that music can either really aid you in some ways, or completely cripple you in others, in regards to homework motivation.

I always listen to music while doing homework and I find as some songs start to play the dancing shoes come out. Then with other songs the shoes stay away and the music is there to help me continue with what I need to do, but add a little enjoyment in the mix.

I say this because in our Creative Writing class we have to write a 4-10 page script, whether it be a screenplay, a stage play, a comic book or whatever. So, I was writing along in a complete tunnel vision zone (like I-am-going-to-be-the-next-Spielberg-and-this-assignment-was-my-ticket-to-riches zone) when I decided to have my main character rap a little song, “Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems”.

That was the turning point.

Like I mentioned before music can either really aid you or cripple you while doing homework, and for about 5 minutes I’d say it aided me.

I wrote a few of the verses in my script and had her singing and rapping along to them. Then, I went to YouTube to make sure I got the verses right.

That was my downfall.

Everyone knows that YouTube is like freaking Narnia, and this character and I share a common trait…we both love really old rap music. Next thing I know I am lost in the dimensions of YouTube listening to B.I.G, RunDMC, and a few music mash-ups.

To try and validate this I could say that I was doing really extensive character research? In reality I just got consumed by the batch of my next set of karaoke repertoire.

My point here is, old rap music is awesome. Seriously.

Also another point is, should I post a song or two each week under a new page, Homework Playlist?

Let me know!

Murphy for President!

Always be prepared. Expect the unexpected. Always dot your Is and cross your Ts.

There are probably a billion other cliché sayings about being prepared but you know there is another saying, actually it is a law, Murphy’s law, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”

Get on the bus or hop in your car to get to class early and accidents are happening everywhere blocking every possible major traffic route. My favourite though, a bomb threat on Portage while on my way to a final exam at U of W. Like seriously?

You can plan and prepare like you are running to be the Boy Scouts’ president but something unexpected can through you off track. Then the next thing you know you are forced to adapt on the spot.

It is inevitable but there is normally always a solution if you keep your head on straight.

Just stop, breathe, think and then adapt. The only way to get out of a mess is to find a way out. There isn’t much luck when stuck in traffic unfortunately. That is just the nature of driving in Winnipeg, no detour around that, but when it comes to road blocks with assignments there always is.

Each solution is going to be different because each situation is different. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when need be. People aren’t that bad. Also drop the student bomb and people tend to take pity cause everyone was a student at some point, true scientific fact.

What the tip this week is is to try not and beat yourself up when things go wrong. You aren’t a perfect person and the world is run by people.

So while you are trying to run to be the president of Boy Scouts realize that so is Murphy.

(Photo curiosity of Google Images)

Hi Ho Hi Ho… It’s back to school we go!

The new year just started and just like that we are back at it again. No more sleeping into noon and staying up until odd hours in the evening. The break was just enough time for me to think I actually had a social life again, but like all seasonal flings, I knew it was doomed from the start.

Back to school I go.

However, I’m kind of glad that I’m back. Dare I say I was getting a little bored sitting at home until the evening work shift came. There was routine in that but not the routine that I liked. I like having something to look forward to and work towards, and hostess work doesn’t fit that bill.

I spent just over three months juggling so many projects that I probably could become a regular act at Shrine Circus.

In one of my earlier tips I touched on why being a keener is beneficial, and this one will build off that.

In first semester of CreComm you heard/will hear about these stories, these possibly overwhelming scary stories, about IPPs (Independent Professional Project) and the magazine project. However, they both seemed like a year away at the time. Well guess what, you just rang in the new year.. so TADA.. here they are all neatly typed out on multiple pages of paper in your sweaty anxious palms.

They are projects that will suck the time out of your schedule. Planning is now your life line.

On top of the usual assignments you are now expected to carry out an independent project that will consume your life for a year and a half. Then on top of that is building a magazine from the ground up.

So the key here I am seeing is planning. Setting aside a day to focus on one of these projects at a time. Then setting aside another day to possibly debrief and have a beer.