(Minghui.org) I had a medical degree, but I had not done any clinical work. In 2012, the hospital where I worked fired me because I refused to stop practicing Falun Dafa. In 2017, I got a job at a nursing facility.
The nursing facility hired me as a doctor because I had a physician’s license. I'd studied at the Adult Education Institute of Heilongjiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine for two years, followed by a year of intermittent internship. I told them honestly that I had no clinical experience, but the person in charge said it was okay for me to learn on the job. I was 47.
While following the director or other doctors to do ward rounds, I carefully wrote down the diagnosis, disposition, and medication for each resident in my notebook. The director and the other two doctors were all younger than me, but I didn’t mind. I asked questions and sought advice from them, as well as from the nurses.
In my free time, I read medical books or looked up cases online. I also familiarized myself with the individual situation of each of the more than 100 elderly residents. I learned the workflow and procedures for receiving new residents, rating them, and creating files for them. After four months, I was on duty independently.
At first, because I was new, the nurses made my job difficult because they didn’t want to do any work.
For example, a resident had a fever. I prescribed an oral medication to be given in the morning, but the nurses deliberately delayed administering it until the afternoon; some IV fluid drip medicine requires a certain drip rate, but they did not follow the rules strictly; they even colluded with other doctors (who they had good relationship with) and moved the treatment fee that should have belonged to me to those doctors (treatment fees generate a commission).
In addition, the director was ready to blame me for any problems in order to protect himself; another doctor waited to see me suffer while pretending that he sympathized with me.
I felt a lot of pressure and became upset. When I reminded myself that I was a Falun Dafa practitioner, I calmed down. I shouldn’t be bothered by anything.
Regardless of how they treated me, I treated them sincerely and well. I did not resent them, and I did my job conscientiously and responsibly. The nurses sometimes intentionally or unintentionally did not fulfill their responsibilities, so I ran more errands myself. While I was on duty, I checked on the sick residents several times a day despite the extra work.
The nurse who gave me the most trouble was getting ready to quit. The day before she left, I ordered takeout and invited her to eat with me. I clarified the truth to her and said, “I’m sharing this with you in hopes that you will be safe in the future.” She was very touched and agreed to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its youth organizations and thanked me repeatedly.
One day, I was on duty with another doctor. An elderly man who was bedridden complained about pain in his leg. The doctor went to check on him and said he was fine. I was the main doctor on duty, so I went to check on the old man and saw that his left ankle joint was misaligned—it turned out to be a fracture. I immediately treated him. I didn’t mention this to anyone afterwards.
Similar things happened a few times. Whenever I found that other doctors had misdiagnosed a situation, I quietly took care of it.
Over time, everyone’s attitude toward me changed. One nurse who always talked badly about me behind my back and was reluctant to work with me, said, “I’ll work on Dr. Wang’s (my alias) shift but no one else’s.” The other two doctors now also respect me.
One day the director told me, “Someone badmouthed you in front of the CEO, and he told me to fire you. I said to the CEO, ‘If you want to fire her, you should fire me first, because she’s the best.’”
In China, doctors get a commission for IV infusions. So, when an elderly patient developed a condition, the director always asked us to talk to the family and try to prescribe an IV or a medication that generated a commission.
As a Falun Dafa practitioner who follows the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, I cannot benefit at others’ expense. I only prescribe an IV when it’s really needed, and I prescribe the medications that are right for the illness.
For example, one bedridden resident with pneumonia occasionally had a fever. The other doctors prescribed medicines that would generate a commission. Many days passed but his fever did not go down. When I was on duty, I used anti-inflammatory drugs that did not generate any commission, and the old man’s condition improved quickly.
One day after the Chinese New Year this year, the old man had a fever again. Due to the epidemic, laboratory tests and medication for anyone with a fever had to be reported to a supervisor, which would be very troublesome. The other doctors just gave him oral medication, but when I was on duty, I listened to his lungs and diagnosed him with pleural effusion, referencing his medical history.
I gave him a few days of tachyphylaxis through IV and had him take an anti-inflammatory medicine. The old man’s fever soon broke. The caregiver said to me, “You really amazed me!”
Over time, many caregivers trusted me, and the residents delayed treatment until I was on duty. The caregivers and the patients’ relatives even came to me when they were sick.
Family members of the residents also trusted me. When other doctors gave IVs to the residents, the family members would sometimes ask to stop the medication when they saw the cost; but in my case, they said, “Please feel free to use any medication you see fit, and I will pay for it.”
I know that, because of the grace of Dafa and the teachings of Master Li (the founder of Falun Dafa) I am in the position I am in today. This laid a good foundation for clarifying the truth later on.
People in a nursing home can pass away suddenly. The director told us that, if they had vital signs or not, we should always try to resuscitate them so that on the one hand, the treatment would generate income for us, and on the other hand, we could avoid being held responsible by their families.
During the epidemic last year, the director and a male doctor did resuscitation on several dead residents. The nurses and caregivers complained about it because it added to their workload and made it difficult for the caregivers to dress the deceased. They said behind their backs, “The director and his gang are obsessed with making money!”
One day, a resident suddenly passed away and had no vital signs. The female doctor I worked with asked me to tell the family we tried resuscitating the resident but weren’t successful. If I did that, then I would have to give a medical order for resuscitation and prescribe a lot of medication, which would cost the family unnecessary expenses.
As a practitioner, I cannot go against my conscience for personal gain, so I said, “Don’t worry, I will tell the family the facts. It will be okay.” When I called, the family just asked what time the elderly person had departed and what they needed to do, nothing else.
We had another elderly resident whose daughter seemed to care a lot about him. She was very high-maintenance and constantly questioned our work. Early one morning, the old man suddenly passed away. I called his daughter, but the phone was switched off.
I did not tell the old man’s wife, fearing she was too old to bear the shock, nor did I do any meaningless resuscitation. When the director found out about it, he accused me of not trying to resuscitate him. He told me I would bear the consequences myself.
I did not mind his attitude. After 8 a.m., I was able to contact the old man’s daughter and told her the news. She was surprisingly calm and did not make any fuss.
As time went by, seeing that I was conscientious and honest in my work, the director became more relaxed and increasingly trusted me. In the past, he always reminded us to protect ourselves and told us how to shirk responsibility, but he almost never mentioned this to me.
I never fought for my benefits. My commissions were calculated by the director, who never explained how it was done. My commissions were very low, but I never challenged it. I just took however much I was given.
Last year, I was approached by the community members during the Chinese Communist Party’s so-called “Zero Out” campaign (the “Zero Out campaign is a concerted effort by the Chinese regime to force every Falun Dafa practitioner on the government’s blacklist to renounce their belief). I clarified the truth to them and refused to sign their papers.
I was worried that they would come to my workplace to harass me and negatively affect the people here (many of whom had already withdrawn from the CCP and its affiliated organizations), so I submitted my resignation to the director.
The director did everything he could to keep me even though he knew I practiced Falun Dafa. He said in the end, “I’ll ask for a raise for you—please don’t leave, okay?” I had no choice but to stay and accept the raise. I’d worked here for four years and was entitled to it anyway. The community members never came back.
Over the past four years, I have clarified the truth to most of the caregivers and given them a truth-clarification calendar. They all liked the calendars and put them in their rooms. I knew some caregivers treated the residents very badly, and some even sold drugs that were prescribed to the residents to other residents, etc. I put aside any negative thoughts I had and clarified the truth to them. I found that, after learning the truth, the caregivers all improved their behavior.
I also clarified the truth to the residents when they were awake. One old woman was a university professor who was suffering from a mild case of Alzheimer’s. She always talked in a condescending manner. I was told that she used to practice Falun Dafa.
One day, I went to her room and asked her, “You know about Falun Dafa, right?” She froze for a moment and didn’t answer. I said, “If you say, ‘Falun Dafa is good’ often, you will have a good day.” She nodded and said yes.
I asked her if she was a Party member. When she said she was, I said, “Then why don’t you quit the Party? The CCP has done so many bad things, and now Heaven is about to destroy it. Why don’t I give you the name ‘so-and-so’ to quit?” She said seriously, “Yes!”
Afterwards, when I did ward rounds and greeted her, she no longer made official speeches or talked condescendingly.
I clarified the truth about Dafa to almost all the medical staff and my frequent contacts and persuaded them to withdraw from the three Communist organizations. Some of them have not yet withdrawn, but they agree that Falun Dafa practitioners are good people.
Recently, through Fa study and reading articles on Minghui, I've been paying more attention to “Selfishness” and “Self” in my speech and actions. I realized that cultivation is about unconditionally looking inward and letting go of the self.
I realized that oftentimes what we cling to are our human thoughts, notions, habits, and our “self.” I realized that “self” is even more difficult to let go of than material interests, and even more difficult to let go of than affection.
I want to strengthen my Fa study, remove this obstacle on the path of my cultivation, and improve in doing the three things.
Thank you, benevolent and esteemed Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!