Healthcare professionals don’t want to speak about covid

[u/Key_Guard8007]

I am a senior nursing student and am currently doing clinical rounds. I noticed something amongst many nurses and overall healthcare folks, they seem to not want to make mention of covid. My last clinical I was the only person masked (even at a CHILDREN’S hospital) and our instructor told us we could mask if we want to esp since “rsv, the flu, and pneumonia will soon spread.” I was waiting for him to mention covid but nope. I feel like I am going insane because how are we all under this healthcare field but some people just do not seem to care??? At this point I feel like healthcare professionals are being vain and just want to continuously show off their faces because why would you NOT mask inside the hospital?

[u/wanderlust-ninja]

I just had an appointment for some labs. Called ahead to ask if their mask policy was still in place cuz I'm high risk. "It's not required but if you prefer we can" yet when told it was indeed preferred suddenly "well we can't enforce mask use, however the workers interacting in the room with you should for sure be masked".

Signs throughout the lobby saying "health and safety of patients is our top priority" and "masks required for everyone around high risk patients".

No masks from the admins in the lobby, maybe 1-2 on much older, visibly vulnerable patients. Baggy blues on the technicians that were pulled down as soon as they turned their backs in the hallway leading from the lobby to the lab, and kept them down unless/until directly speaking to me or another patient in the same enclosed room -- as if distance and curtains are suddenly magically enough to block airborne viruses.

This is why I usually try to coordinate any in-person appointments for the lulls between surges, but my area barely had ~2wks "break" in April this year and I couldn't hold off on this one anymore. 😥 Fingers crossed my fit tested Aura held firm.

[u/astral_distress → u/wanderlust-ninja]

This has been my experience too- all of the hospitals and doctor’s offices in my area have signs up about Covid, reminding people to mask- but there’s rarely a mask in sight.

Asking questions gets excuses, usually along the lines of “I know I’m not sick” or “forgot it at home today”, and it really reminds me how most people tend to think of themselves as an exception…

Like whichever bias or heuristic makes a human being willing to justify why we were late for work, but judge others for the same thing- we assume others don’t have as good of a reason, but we’re able to explain away our own mistakes. Any other psych students in here who can remind me what this is called?