Nat'l Nurses Week(ness)

Nurses General Nursing

Published

It is my opinion that our celebration of ourselves and public displays of "look at us" are embarrassing.

I did a search on Google.com(a popular search engine). Here are the keywords searched and # of results.

"National Nurses Week" 1,080 results

"National Lawyers Week" 0 results

"National Doctors Week" 0 results

"National Housekeepers week" 41 results

"National teachers week" 33 results

"National professors week" 0 results

Now I am sure this data doesn't mean squat but it is interesting that the professions most universally considered "professional" have 0 results while those seen as "less than professional" or "blue collar" have hits.

I think banners point out more than anything that we want recognition. Wanting recognition is weak. It makes me feel we are a bunch of begging dogs. Nobody likes or respects begging dogs - even if that is what he thinks it takes to get attention.

Leno makes jokes - well we HAD to point at say look at me. Then we get mad when he does his job(however tasteless).

I know it isn't entirely feasible but if I was going to try to get nursing into the professional realm thiese are some things I would do:

1. Ban nurses week and other pat my back and toot my horn activities.

2. Throw away all the touchy feely nurse poems that act as if nurses are better than regular humans with more compassion, stamina, etc. Its only good for nurses to read to themself while they look in the mirror and if is that irritating to me it must really be silly to non-nurses.

3. Adopt some standards for patient safety and stick to them. Don't accept an assignment that you think is unsafe. Complaining about staffing while continuing to work short just proves to management you are willing take part in jeopardizing your patients even while a prudent nurse sees it to be unsafe. It is true enough that if you are the only one you will simply be fired and replaced. This is why as a profession it proves we are weak kneed(unlike lawyers, doctors, etc).

4. Hold each other to high standards. When you see that nurse using bad technique, smelling like cigarettes, cologne, dirty uniform, curt, rude, etc., realize she/he is representing nurses and it IS more damaging than anything Leno could say.

In short. If we want Nursing to be treated like a true profession we need to elevate it to the level of a true profession.

That doesn't include celebrating ourselves or media campagns.

HotSpam

Hi. I agree with previous posters who either support or don't support nurses week. In my opinion it's a two-edged sword. It's a matter of what meaning you give to the week.

Curious? How and where did nurses day or week first originate? From HotSpam's post, I note that those occupations who tend to have a week designated in their honor are female predominated? The question is do we value or devalue the week because of this knowledge?

Perhaps nurses week would be more meaningful if it were used as a vehicle for groups of nurses to sit down with the respective boards of directors, the CEO and administration to hash out problems in patient care and with nursing pay, working environment, and benefits. As pointed out under another post, this may be a good time to do a poll of one's employer.

TLynn,

What part of these posts makes you sick and rather die than be cared for by one of us?

Is it the part where I suggest accepting unsafe conditions for patients is a weakness?

Perhaps it is that I feel insulted by poems that portray nurses as superhuman?

Bottom line is I choose to be dignified.

How dare you suggest I do not like this profession. I do not like the mockery some are making of this profession. I've pretty clearly stated some examples.

I draw my power for working from knowing I am a great nurse.

I should refrain from getting snotty but I have to say, based on your post, you are probably one of those that are keeping nurses from being recognized as a profession. I am sure you disagree. I knew there would be division.

HotSpam

[ May 05, 2001: Message edited by: HotSpam ]

aha, after reviewing your profile I think I found the sore spot. Your a poet!!

I didn't mean the attack on poems about nurses personally but it is a good example of what I think is a nurse writing a self glorifying tribute to nurses that well exceeds reality.

reposted with credit:

A hand reaches down from somewhere up above,

A hand of miracles, a hand doing what it loves.

Calming a sick child that is in need,

Wiping tears from an elderly woman's cheek.

The face of this stranger is all aglow,

No eyes, no mouth, it seems to have no nose.

Something lightly touches the hands of the dying,

Comforts family and friends who are crying.

It feels like feathers, it appears to be wings,

And bove the head, there floats a gold ring.

They carry a warmth that soothes and heals,

Leesons that pain that no longer seems real.

The swiftness of this stranger, the power that it holds,

Is miraculous, unselfish, giving of it's very soul.

Who is this stranger, reaching down from above?

With passion, warmth, honest love?

An Angel? God? Could be perhaps.

For the miracles they assist in the must have pwoers such as that.

To those whose life is graced with their presence, their touch,

They must be Heavenly beings sent from above.

But, no, this is not an angel, or someone of higher power for sure,

This person who's touching you is simply...a nurse.

TLynn Green

I never celebrated Nat Nurses week in any way but I never gave it much thought either. After giving it the thought that this post forced me to give it I conclude that I LOVE THIS POST.. :)

I received a private message from TLYNN.

Subject: Nat'l Nurses Week

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What makes me sick that people think you are so high and mighty. We all know never to take any position that is unsafe for us or our patients, but to say that we don't deserve to be rembered for our hard, sometimes low paying jobs is wrong. I don't care what people think about poetry, that is a ligitimate way for those to releive the stress of nursing. Don't like them? Don't read them it is that simple. Poetry has a power of healing all it's own, I have letter about letter from all over the nation and Canada about a poem I wrote and had published on the OKC bombing. So don't ready them if you take that much offense to them.

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This is the message in it's entirety. I think is only right to share it with everyone who contributed to this thread.

TLYNN, "Don't like them - Don't read them" isn't the point. The point I am making is the proliferation of these type of poems is a weakness. It keeps us patting each others backs, unrealistic, and enables the "mission" mentality.

Perhaps it would be different if we were discussing inspired poetry or prose with language that is reflective of the realities we face as nurses. But we are not. Perhaps that job should be left to true artists.

If you desire to seriously discuss the role of your poetry in nursing and furthermore suggest it reflects our professionalism It would help you to write in a manner that is easy to understand. From reading your post above It seems as though english is your second language. Either way, perhaps you should brush up on it a little.

HotSpam

Just saw the list at the ana site (www.ana.com) about nurses week and found it interesting that malaysia, Guam and Saudi Arabia had activities that far surpassed the ice cream socials and logo pens. Maybe they want to keep their nurses happy there since our recruiters are headed in their directions!

I must say I'm somewhat relieved to see a post on this topic. It makes me feel a little less like an old curmudgeon (sp?). I really thought it was just me.

I have never been big on ceremony- I didn't even attend my own graduation (a 'pinning' ceremony!). It was only important to me and my dad. He was too sick to attend and I already knew I had graduated, so..

I wonder how much of this stuff stems from nursing being a 'female' profession. I dislike bowties, teddy bears, knick-knacks, and, frankly, the junk that is often offered as token gifts. Our nurses day included a free make-up and fingernail session. Ugh.

I don't mean to sound ungrateful for a gift offered in kindness, but I'd just really rather be treated respectfully and acknowledged professionally. This doesn't have to be on a special, designated day.

I think nurses week would be better recognised by inviting non-nurses and future potential nurses to view our world of work, and perhaps be invited to join us. The best reward I get at my job is the satisfaction of a job well done. Despite its flaws, nursing is an immensely rewarding career.

Wow,

I'm impressed with the outcome of the initial post. I thought that surely this concept would have been disintegrated by now. I'm glad to know that it hasn't. :D

TLynn,

I would like to apologize if any offense for your poem was taken, I meant none. I know that for some this is a reliever, it is just that for me I believe that nurses should be seen in a more realistic light. As people with other responsibilities and obligations besides what they do for a living. I do believe that nurses are special, as it takes a special kind of person to be a nurse, it is truly an art and a science. However I will also offer up that when we wrap ourselves in the mantle of Florence Nightengale too tightly we smother ourselves quite deliberately.

Poetry can be beautiful and thought provoking as can any good writing. I myself love "Leaves of Grass." Read part of it at my dads funeral.

I am addressing this to you in the hopes that you understand how some of us feel about the touchy feely poems that are so prevelant about nurses and why we feel that way. I find it distasteful that someone else would post a personal email that was sent to them. Regradless of the motives for doing so I do not believe it should have been done. I'm sure that you have written beautiful things that have meant much to others, please just understand that not all of us feel that way about being a nurse. I am sorry that some have chosen the path of ridicule instead of explaining why they feel the way they do.

Truly good poetry must have certain elements.

To wit:

1. Conciseness. See T.S. Elliot, e.e. cummings and/or Walt Whitman

2. Lyricism. See Shakespeare, E.A. Poe, E.B. Browning.

For poetry to be great, perhaps even move the reader to tears (of joy), it must express some universal idea. See Robert Browning, Emily Dickinson, and many others whom I cannot name.

I also do not wish to offend, but I find National Nurses Week offensive. I see it as the health care industry (the multi-billion dollar health care industry ) saying " We have to have you but we need you to work real cheap so we can increase our profits to record levels. So in lieu of any real rewards for your service, take this highly processed food, these key chains, coffee mugs and other advertising gimmics and be happy." But that is the opinion of one man, an incredibly well educated and erudite man,

perhaps one of the great thinkers of our time, but still only one.

:cool:

[ May 11, 2001: Message edited by: cmggriff ]

Originally posted by Tiara:

Just saw the list at the ana site (www.ana.com) about nurses week and found it interesting that malaysia, Guam and Saudi Arabia had activities that far surpassed the ice cream socials and logo pens. Maybe they want to keep their nurses happy there since our recruiters are headed in their directions!

Hi Tiara. I think you make an excellent point. I also believe that a place like Saudi Arabia, with one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, can afford to lavish their nurses with gifts and more. If you are correct about recruitment efforts in the aforementioned countries, I wonder the reasons these nurses would sign on to come to the states in the first place?

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