Let us remeber

[OC_An Khe]

Let us remember that we still are in a nursing/health care shortage. This shortage can turn even more critical as a results of the WTC and Pentagon attacks. That attack could have easily caused 10 times the number of casualties. What if it were a bilogical or chemical attack? Do we even know how to recognize anthrax or smallpox symptoms? How to treat or isolate?

When the Reserves and National Guard are called up don't you think there will be nuirses, docs and others activated? How many from your institution will go? What effect will it have on staffing?

Our health care system was showing signs of deteriorating before the real possibility of warfare by terrorism reared its head. It will definetly be difficult to cope with multiple attacks which result large scale casualties.

ANy thoughts?

[frustratedRN]

maybe we will have to go back to the days of enlisting prisoners and prostitutes to be nurses

tell you whats gonna happen. yes some nurses will go and so will some docs. but in the scheme of things, the soldiers and vetrans will get the least care. just like they do now in our system.

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

How ironic. Tuesday morning instead of watching TV I opened my newest Nursing 2001....to an article on Bioterrorism!

If you have access to it there is a massive amount of information. I had just gotten to smallpox when my daughter rushed in and said...turn on the TV.........

If you are not a subscriber, see if your library at work or school subscribes. That article is a keeper.

[Mijourney]

Hi ocankhe. Interesting you bring up the nursing shortage. Not only do we have a nursing and nursing assistant shortage, we have a shortage of front line physicians, we have a teachers' shortage, we have a shortage of front line military staff, we have a shortage of law enforcement workers, and from my readings we have a shortage of firefighters. All of these workers are critical to a civilized nation. I'm not a psychic, but I'm afraid I see very hard times down the road in all of these areas and for the American people.

Possibly on a good note, we will see increased numbers of people enter the helping professions because of the downturn of the economy, and it has been conventionally thought that the helping professions are inflation proof. Also, more people, I believe, will be convicted to enter the helping professions because of the enormous tragedy that occurred last week.

These shortages are more than about money even though that is the central point of the problem. We have now begun to regularly see or read about people getting laid off from work, but we have not seen this translate into greater funding for helping professions programs, massive increases in teachers to educate nurses or other workers, and we have not seen widescale massive enrollment into programs for frontline work in the helping professions.

Those firefighters and police who went back to help those affected by the attacks on the WTC probably never gave any thought to losing their life. Those of us like me, you, and others never really thought about the weightiness of handling people, blood and other bodily substances in our work. We knew that all we were trying to do is to help or protect someone while making a living.

I am hopeful that at least one person's heart will change (a person that in the dot.com world or entering the dot.com world) about the helping professions, and that they will enter frontline work in the helping professions knowing that they may be required to make the ultimate sacrifice.