Everyone hears on the news about the shortage of nurses and doctors for our hospitals and other health care facilities, and sadly this is a problem that is widespread, not only across Saskatchewan but across the country.

Not everyone, however, likes to hear when a practice of residents is cited as one of the causes for doctors and nurses to be burned out and exhausted by the sheer workload they have to shoulder, in part due to the above-cited shortage.

In a way, there's a vicious-circle effect going on, and it can only be relieved by the additional hiring of sufficient doctors and nurses to alleviate that workload, and make health care services more freely available to all regions, rural and urban.

What many residents may not realize is, they can help reduce that workload on the doctors and nurses in a couple different ways.

One is, don't misuse the ER, the emergency room, at the Weyburn General Hospital (and this likely applies to the ERs of bigger hospitals in the larger urban centres too).

This is not saying don't use the ER when there is a legitimate need for emergency medical care; no doctor or nurse would ever say that treatment is optional or superfluous for someone in need of immediate attention.

Indeed, the CEO of Sun Country, Cal Tant, was recently quoted as saying the health region is also encouraging people that if they feel they need emergency care, they should not hesitate to go to the ER.

The key to this problem, however, are people who do not have a medical emergency (and if asked would willingly admit this) who make use of the emergency, simply "because it's there" and there's a doctor on call anyway. Furthermore, Weyburn doctors say that sometimes the excuse is given that a person works during the day, and the evening is the only time they have to see a doctor. Sometimes this is the excuse given by a person who has held off seeing a doctor for a few days, and they go in to the ER at 10 in the evening or later because they know a doctor will be on call.

Consider that if blood tests or X-rays are required, those professionals are not there late at night - they're at home, with their families, and it would be very costly to bring them in for something that is not an actual emergency.

This, quite simply, is misuse and abuse of the services that medical professionals are providing. The ER is not a walk-in medical clinic; it is there to treat actual medical emergencies when someone is injured or dying.

Why contribute to the feeling of abuse and burn-out amongst doctors? Have respect for them, and for the health care system, and use common sense. If you have a cold or a sprained ankle, make an appointment and see the doctor in the proper venue. - Greg Nikkel