Wellbeing

When does a useful educational tool start taking too much of our attention? Iain Beardsell reflects on constant phone-checking, family life and his own relationship with social media, explaining why he planned a week away from apps to reconnect with the world around him.

Small changes can make an emergency department visit feel less frightening for a child. Inspired by ICEM 2016, this reflection explores welcoming children, involving caregivers, using play, listening carefully and respecting dignity, with children’s rights at the centre of the encounter.

Following Prince’s death in 2016, Rick Body reflects on what clinicians might learn from his response to a rain-soaked performance. The post connects resilience, humour and hope with the emotional tone we bring to patients and colleagues during difficult times in healthcare.

Can clinicians be both assertive and respectful? Natalie May challenges the gendered labels applied to women in emergency medicine, explores the harm of polarised assumptions and argues for mutual respect and a shared commitment to patient care when colleagues disagree.

What makes a career in emergency medicine feel fulfilling? Drawing on Maslow’s ideas, Simon Carley explores personal growth, the conditions needed to thrive at work and the satisfaction of helping others develop, while acknowledging the pressures that can undermine those ambitions.

As UK emergency medicine approached its fiftieth anniversary, Simon Carley used a midlife-crisis analogy to reflect on the specialty’s development. This 2016 essay considers professional identity, external pressures, career choices and the search for a satisfying working life, with a deliberately humorous edge.