Tensions with patients push China’s doctors and nurses to the breaking point

In recent years the pressure doctors face has been a hot topic in China, with medical professionals having to cope with long work hours, low pay and tense doctor-patient relationships. As a result, some doctors are now choosing to quit or switch fields. In a society where medical resources are not equally distributed and medical services in short supply, the government must take steps to address the situation.

Zhang Hai has had a tough six months. He has been looking for another job, even though he has already worked as an oncologist for six years at the Jiangbei People's Hospital in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province.

Zhang isn't the only person having these kinds of thoughts. In China, the pressure on doctors has long been a hot topic: long hours, low pay, tension between patients and medical workers. But Zhang feels these issues are becoming more severe in recent years, particularly the last, with many conflicts escalating into open physical violence.

"My colleagues and I are constantly talking about this, especially since the media is more and more vocal about such attacks," he said. He is now thinking about finding an easier job with more pay and flexibility, preferably at a pharmaceutical company.

Statistics show he's not alone. Many of China's doctors are quitting the medical workforce. Experts call this a particularly dangerous trend, since it comes at a time when China's need for medical services is on the rise. In order to resolve this issue, the government has been advised to take steps to mend the relationship between patients and doctors.

Violent change

A search on baidu.com with the keywords "doctor" and "kill" or "hack" yields more than 12,000 results. Patients or their relatives, unhappy with a diagnosis, price, or treatment sometimes resort to violence. Some doctors are injured, while others have been killed.

One recent case was the death of a 27-year-old woman after a cesarean section at a hospital in Hunan Province on August 10, which triggered widespread discussion and concern.

The hospital said that the woman, surnamed Zhang, died as a result of an amniotic fluid embolism, which occurs when amniotic fluid enters the mother's bloodstream and triggers an allergic reaction, leading to kidney failure and sudden death. But the woman's relatives rushed into the operating room, apparently intent on committing violence. Media reports and the relatives' own account said that upon entering the room they found the woman dead and hospital staff inattentive.

The combination of such incidents and the pressure of being a doctor in the first place has led many to quit. But with a medical background, their other career options are limited, Zhang said.

"For people like us, we've been trained in this profession for so long, if we want to switch jobs, most people naturally choose to be a pharmaceutical sales representative or a teacher in a medical school," he said.

He entered the medical field because he thought he could make a difference, but now, six years later, he feels worn out by the intensity of work.

On June 11, the Chinese-language Journal of Medicine hosted a poll that asked "If you had another chance, would you choose to enter the medical field again?" A total of 937 medical workers participated in the poll, with 80 percent saying they wouldn't, while 94.56 percent said they won't let their children enter the medical field and 69.26 percent regretting that they became doctors.

Severe side effects

Despite the difficult situation facing medical workers right now, enthusiasm for medical schools remains high. The score needed this year in the national college entrance exam to get into the medical school at Fudan, a top-10 university based in Shanghai, was even higher than last year's, a sign of increasingly stiff competition.