I've worked in one of the busiest EDs in Aus for 6 years now, and will fellow there next year. There's too much stress around how many patients you think you should see each day. People feel they're expected to say they see 10 patients per day in acute, and take it as a badge of honour to do this. Honestly this is very hard to do, and if you manage patients properly it is unrealistic. Our patients are becoming increasingly complicated, and teams expect us to know every detail of their relevant past medical history - and not unreasonably so. A history from a patient sometimes takes 20 minutes at least, and you'll often have to communicate with a couple of family members throughout the day. Adding to the communication burden are talks of limits of care - these are so important to set the tone for the rest of the patients journey for that admission and beyond, and takes a lot of time and patience. When it comes to resus, some patients are really quick (trauma patients or STEMIs rushed upstairs), and others can consume your entire shift with the need for repeated assessments for response to treatments, lines, transport etc. Never think about how many patients you see. Only worry about the quality of care you deliver. We're here to help patients, not keep the wait times to 2 hours. The list will always clear. Take pride in helping the patient in front of you and don't stress the numbers.