Ondřej Sobotka interviewed his colleague Dr. Sulíková from her practice in Jílové u Děčín. Since this is his hometown, it was of course a matter of the heart and he was curious how his compatriots in the Děčín region manage and how Nurse Emmy has proved herself to them. Dr. Sulíková has been using Emmy in her practice for a while now and shared her experience with us.

How has Emma's deployment in your practice affected your practice?

My sister and I have seen a huge reduction in phone calls, which were completely mentally draining and decimating. You were getting to the point where you were literally filled with rage and aversion when the phone rang. Even with that patient, he would then talk through gritted teeth, which was incredibly energy draining. One is totally exhausted after work, because not only does he have a lot on his plate, but there is also resistance and a certain need to put on an act in order to maintain a professional attitude. It takes a lot of strength.

Did Emmy help you?

It's been an incredible time saver to be able to devote to the patients who come directly into the office and the problems I have to deal with them in person. The main thing is reducing the frequency of those phone calls. I don't know if my colleagues can handle it, but we're on about our sixth or seventh ring - we have to keep changing them because as it rings, I'm already thinking about a new phone just because of the different sounds on the landline. Because when it rings, it floods you with adrenaline in an incredible way. And when they ring one after the other, when the first one stops, the next one starts, you can't do that.

Do people generally call more these days?

I think it was most prevalent during the Coup d'état. I'm sorry to say that people have become so used to phoning doctors that after the pandemic has died down, it hasn't been reduced to pre-covid levels and therefore we really have no choice but to use whatever method or option we can to keep it to a minimum.

How did you and Emmy get along?

When I got her, I was quite in anticipation of what she would actually bring us, whether patients would accept her and whether they would agree to the change. Because I'm in charge of a district that consists of mostly elderly patients, something like 60% of them are over 65. And they are not very willing to use the new technology even in our region (with a few active exceptions, of course). But I have to say that despite my expectations, the patients have taken it positively.

All of them?

Of course, there are people who still refuse it, but that's always the case with any new method. Such people are only willing to call a landline and won't even use a cell phone. But the young have embraced it completely. They are very appreciative of Emmy and even use the option of representation when they book their relatives. This has been very well received and is a great advantage. I have to say that as far as phone calls go, hardly anyone calls "for someone" anymore. If anyone calls anymore, it's the older patients who are dealing with things for themselves. But the placeholder orders for anything, whether it's medications or some tests and preventions or just something they need right now, are really done through the virtual nurse. That, I have to say, was a big surprise to me.

I'm glad to hear that, of course.

We're glad, too. Because I wondered during those first three months if we would even stick with it. I wasn't sure if the patients would use it. If the effectiveness of Emma was low, then there's no point.

Was it easy to convince your sister to start using Emmy?

She was terrified of it, even though she's only 48 and very capable. But she admitted that to me in retrospect, she didn't dare say anything beforehand. She didn't have a vote in this case.

Those are the best years.

They are. She has a cell phone, she's comfortable with technology, but she was still apprehensive about it. But now she's not gonna let it happen. After she found out what working with a virtual nurse entailed, she took the plunge and today, without much exaggeration, she's penning it. We're getting in this morning and she's already taking care of Emmy. I have to keep telling her, "no, no, no, let me do it, you've been so busy..." But no, she'll just do it and do it all. Really, she'll just leave me with maybe two people at the end of the surgery who need a comment from me or something from me to sort it out. And it's only when Emma's not there that I can do something quickly. But she's really happy to do it and she's really enthusiastic. She says she never expected Emmy to be such a benefit to our work.

Well, were you worried, too?

Not me, I'm not afraid of new technology. I was just worried that the seniors, like I told you, wouldn't be into it. And that it didn't make sense for ten people a day. Ten phone calls a day doesn't affect our work anymore. But the reality exceeded our expectations. Maybe you come in after the weekend, and thanks to Emmy, you're processing one patient after another. We'll be able to handle all the requests from Friday afternoon to the Monday ones that come in during the day. And we do it with a sense of a job well done, everything is done, everything is as it should be.

So new technologies are interesting to you?

Whenever there's a new thing that comes along that makes my job or my nurse's job easier in the office, I go for it. Always. That's money that you invest in yourself because our work is exhausting and if we don't make it easier, we are in very real danger of burnout syndrome today and every day. It's important to eliminate what's nagging us, what's holding us back, what's draining our energy. If I can, I try to shift it to technology that does it for us. I think that's the only way today. We'll see what artificial intelligence does in this... We may not even need that in the doctor's office anymore.

We'll just be sipping coffee, as patients often imagine - that we're not answering our phones at work because our feet are on the table... Is there anything else you'd like to say to your colleagues, to GPs?

Save your staff. Good nurses are few and far between, and to have them burn you out because of these phone calls, these horrible rings, I think that's the wrong way to go. And I'd say one more thing to them. If you haven't tried Emmy, give her a chance. Maybe for two or three months, and see if it's the system for you. You won't get anything for it. Find the courage to go for it. Whether you're older or younger, because Emmy is really very simple. That's my message.