It will undoubtedly be tough when you are in the emergency room, knowing the life of a patient depends in your hands. The room is suffocating with unexplainable pressure. You can almost hear everyone’s hearts pounding so fast and hard. Even the well ventilated room just can’t keep sweat away. Everybody is anxious of what’s going to happen next. And this time, one wrong move can end someone’s life.

That is a common scene surgeons handle from time to time. Some cases end up in death, others without much success, and still others into exhilarating triumph. Certainly, these people live one of the most stressful lives in the world. They are the first ones to take the shock of any consequence. And also the first ones to take up the most distressed moments of the bereaved. The earnings they make may not be enough to compensate those extra emotional and psychological doses.

The tough times, that surgeons face, are fueled by epidemics that suddenly sprout. One example is the A H1N1 flu, also known as swine flu, which has blown to its full length as worldwide pandemic. Patients doubled and so as their tasks. Following is the issue of mandating health care workers to take h1n1 flu vaccine in several cities within the United States. Issues about the vaccine risks and resistance of a number of nurses made the situation worse. Problems, such as that, put additional burden among themselves.

Who will forget about the long heated debate on U.S. President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul? This put a very big load on health care workers. Some doctors have made their voice heard, especially in the internet. In fact, some said they will have to leave the profession if the president wins. The reason was the health care revamp threatens them to be left with no other choice but receive low salary. And they fear they could no longer live according to the kind of living a physician necessitates.

And what else can be tougher than having to carry in their conscience any wrong decision they could’ve made for their patients? Flashback of what happened keeps on coming. Alternatives that could have reversed the outcome keep popping. Things can be really distressful. But they knew life itself is tough and can be tougher when one shows weakness. There is but one decision to make, respond to the call of duty despite future consequences.

When you go to a hospital and meet your doctor, you may not see surgeons with the tough things they face in mind, and actually demand for yourself more attention than what is needed. And if things don’t go your way, you might resort to treating the situation in a harsh manner. However, if we remember things are tough on them too, we might as well understand surgeons better. See the importance of understanding them as Landau scrubs or Urbane scrubs given as gifts.