I am writing this on a beautiful Easter
Sunday.
So, I am trying to keep my compassion
to the forefront.
It's been awhile since I have written
about nursing.
While it's my chosen career, I have
always hesitated to flaunt the fact. I was not 'called' to this job,
but I have found that, over the years, my love of my fellow nurses
has become quite fierce.
And once again, our people need
defending.
Let's get the facts first:
Washington State has a bill in their
senate which would mandate uninterrupted meal and rest periods for
nurses.
Senator Maureen Walsh, Republican, gave
an argument against this bill stating that in smaller hospitals, the
nurses probably play cards for a significant part of their day.
In a way, she wasn't wrong.
From the first day of clinicals, I
'played cards' – those would be the 4x5 file cards on which Care
Plans are written. For nursing students, these were a way to learn
about each diagnosis, its treatment and then a devised plan of care
for each individual patient. We were required to do three of these
plans per patient for each clinical day. At first it was only one
patient and plan but as our learning advanced it was multiple
patients and multiple plans. All needing to be done in the evening
before the early morning clinicals, after a day of lectures and
study.
I also played 'cards' with those
wonderful MedCards. These were smaller 3x5 cards on which were
written EVERY medication the above patient was on, the drug's
classification, action, side effects and doses.
Today, those plans and medcards are
digital.
But so are poker cards so guess I can
see how someone might be confused.
Senator Walsh's comment has generated a
flurry of memes on social media, all in regards to the Cards nurses
play.
We play with CARDizem, NiCARDipine –
just two of the CARDiac drugs used to save lives.
My current fav is the black and white
of Florence Nightingale dealing black jack circa 1800's...
They are pretty hilarious.
And naturally, someone began
complaining asking why, if we were offended, are memes the best way
to show it.
It's one of those 'If I don't laugh,
I'll cry' situations.
Earlier this week I read a story about
a nurse in Louisiana who was attacked by a patient during her job and
a week later died, most likely of injuries incurred in that attack.
Does this sound like a person who wants
to be known as working in a profession that 'plays cards' for most of
the day?
Thankfully, the legal system has
determined this a homicide.
I say 'thankfully' as for most of my
career we were to look the other way when a patient became physical.
The reasoning being, these people are not themselves. And, we are
there to help.
But, our world has gotten less
reasonable.
And nursing has gotten more and more
difficult.
We have gone from 8 hour shifts,
covering a 'team' of 8-10 patients with the help of one or two aides,
to 10 or 12 hour shifts in a 'primary care' environment of 4 to 6 to
8 patients with only one or two aides on the entire unit.
These patients are sicker, the
medications and instrumentation more complicated and the environment
more volatile.
And the nursing population is getting
older.
We need more people to enter this
career.
And how is this going to happen when
people like Senator Walsh seems to believe all nurses do is sit
around a play cards?
But, now that I think about it, maybe
we should adopt her philosophy....
Come one and all, join the ranks of
NURSES!
Learn how to start IV's and give
medications safely!
Learn how to identify critical cardiac
rhythms and treat them before your patient dies!
Learn how to simultaneously care for
the guy who just killed a family of four in a drunken car accident,
comfort a young woman who has terminal cancer, recover a fresh
kidney transplant patient! All while basking in the luxurious
spa-like atmosphere of the clean utility room where you quickly grab
a granola bar half-way through your 12 hour shift because eating and
drinking in patient care areas is not allowed and 'resources' are
stretched so that lunch break may not happen.
Find the strength inside yourself to
repeat these things daily and still see hope in this world! Because
that is the only way its possible to return day after day to a
profession that has lost the respect it so well deserves.
Now deal my hand.
I'm ready to place a bet...
 |
| My cap. Note the bobby pin rust stain in the center... |
(For more of my nursing posts, check out the tab 'It's a Living' at the top of the page.)
