Please Tell Us If You Are Contacting Legislators/ANA, etc. Re: Nursing Concerns

BethanyJ,

Thanks for your compliment and support!

I HAVE noticed the incresing numbers of registered users and this IS encouraging!!

Any ideas today on the "Mission Statement"?

Any responses yet?

MESSAGE TO ALL-----

LET'S KEEP THINGS GOING HERE, HUH? IF WE STOP COMMUNICATIONS NOW OR EVER, HOW WILL WE ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING??!!

THANKS TO ALL!!

barton

------------------

Sophie,

THANKS for the post! I LOVE IT that you gathered some assignment sheets-----imagine ANYONE, with a medical/nursing background, reading the patients' charts AND THEN seeing the assignment sheets for those same patients!! I think THAT would put the FEAR OF GOD into ANYONE, since ALL people are potential patients!

I believe that eventually, at least some of our horror stories about inadequate and unlicensed staffing WILL make it to television or some type of media, and that is ONE of the reasons I believe that we need to continue to POST, POST, POST and DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT and CONTINUE TO WRITE, WRITE, WRITE to our legislators, the ANA, the state nursing associations, the AARP, Sylvia Johnson at ABC's 20/20 (THANKS AGAIN Canrckid!), and any other appropriate organizations that are potential vehicles for positive change! IF ANY of them STOP HEARING from us, I'm concerned that they will forget about our dilemna or assume that it has been resolved. I imagine that research, production, etc. takes the media weeks or months to complete on a story of this magnitude, so PLEASE don't give up your efforts if we don't see immediate results!

At present, I await a response from Rep.Young (I faxed a letter only a few days ago), the ANA, and the FNA (FL). I continue to e-mail the ANA and FNA at polite intervals. I will post any responses I receive.

Since I believe that certain legislators, Sylvia Johnson and other people/organizations have been INVITED TO READ our posts, I URGE all of you to continue to post. How else can our readers/"posters" know what our mission is? They and we NEED ALL THE INFO we can get to effect positive change, right?

Another piece of GREAT NEWS is that LRichardson has agreed to post, when ready, the editorial she is writing for a city newspaper!!

AND a BIG THANK YOU to the administrator of this site, Brian Short, for the VERY LARGE and VERY RED forwarding messages he has left at our previous forum, referring people to THIS forum!!

HUGS TO ALL!!!

barton

P.S.--Please don't forget to give your suggestions re: adding to, deleting from, or rewriting my suggested "Mission Statement" (posted on our previous forum)! Thanks!

------------------

BethanyJ,

Thanks again for your CONTINUED responses and for reviewing my loosely written and proposed "Mission Statement" (for this forum). I agree with you that patients should COME FIRST!

I posted the name, address, phone and e-mail for Ms. Whittaker (ANA) so that EVERYONE would have the info and ability to correspond with her. Until she responded to my e-mail, all I had was a "generic" e-mail addy to the ANA, but NOW we ALL have a specific person to address at the ANA----PLEASE--EVERYONE---COMMUNICATE with her and post those conversations on this BB!!

Thank you also BethanyJ, for posting the INVITATION to our BB on the Geriatric Forum here! I have posted , in the last week or so, invitations to our forum on several other forums on this site.

You help to keep up my spirits with your continued and informative posts BETHANYJ, and I want you to know how much I appreciate that!

PLEASE EVERYONE----CONTINUE OUR EFFORTS FOR BETTER PATIENT CARE WITH MORE----- AND LICENSED----PERSONNEL!!

PLEASE CONTACT MS.WHITTAKER @ the ANA!!

THANKS!

barton

------------------

Pearl,

Thank you so much for your post! I have a friend who worked in L&D and what you describe IS a LOT of work!

As for your bladder, a doctor told me a long time ago that we nurses should use the bathroom at the same intervals as we turn our patients (about every two hours) instead of "holding it" like we do. As I said, that was a long time ago--who has time?--Personally, I'm a q8h gal! LOL!!

I'M SO GLAD THAT YOU FEEL HOPE AND ENCOURAGEMENT AND THAT YOU FEEL YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE! AND you ARE making a difference by giving these addresses to co-workers and copying assignments---the difference you are making is that you are DOING SOMETHING to help our patients and ourselves instead of just complaining. Your charge nurse is an angel to DOCUMENT everything and send it to administration---if something happens (God forbid) to a patient, as a result of understaffing, LET'S SEE THE HOSPITAL TALK ITS WAY OUT OF THAT!! Your charge nurse is making a DIFFERENCE for the same reason you are!

I have my letter to Ms. Whittaker (ANA) half completed and will send it today. I truly believe that Rep. Young WILL respond to my letter because he is a GOOD man.

I LOVE the way you said that you will let me know about replies WHEN, and NOT IF you receive them--that tells me that YOU WILL NOT GIVE UP!!

And Pearl, YOU AND EVERYONE HERE are VERY WELCOME to my efforts!

Your words of appreciation to me today came at the PERFECT moment, because I was beginning to have some doubts about the "stamina" of this group----I think that change, in our situation, is going to take some time and probably more time than we'd like......but as I've said before, if we make just ONE LOUD and BRIEF CRY to the powers that be and then "shut-up", I believe that we will lose; we must RELENTLESSLY continue our efforts in communication with the ANA, etc. at regular and polite intervals if we wish to have a chance to effect positive change in protecting our patients and ourselves!

Thank you, Pearl. You gave me the positive feedback I desperately needed in order to personally "re-group"! Please give your charge nurse a BIG THANK YOU AS WELL!!

Hope to hear from you, your co-workers, and your charge nurse SOON on this BB!

Your friend in Florida, :-)
barton

------------------


[This message has been edited by barton (edited March 15, 1999).]