just a disclaimer: this was not written by me, it was forwarded to me by my husband. it made me think and i thought the people of all nurses would also be interested in reading this - especially those planning to volunteer in shelters (not to say that you shouldn't). this letter is being sent to the ny times as well as bill o'reilly. mods, if this would be better in another forum, my apologies.
i am a nurse who has just completed volunteer working approximately 120 hours as the clinic director in a hurricane gustav evacuation shelter in shreveport, louisiana over the last 7 days. i would love to see someone look at the evacuee situation from a new perspective. local and national news channels have covered the evacuation and "horrible" conditions the evacuees had to endure during hurricane gustav.
true - some things were not optimal for the evacuation and the shelters need some modification. at any point, does anyone address the responsibility (or irresponsibility) of the evacuees?
does it seem wrong that one would remember their cell phone, charger, cigarettes and lighter but forget their child's insulin?
is something amiss when an evacuee gets off the bus, walks immediately to the medical area, and requests immediate free refills on all medicines for which they cannot provide a prescription or current bottle (most of which are narcotics)?
isn't the system flawed when an evacuee says they cannot afford a $3 copay for a refill that will be delivered to them in the shelter yet they can take a city-provided bus to wal-mart, buy 5 bottles of vodka, and return to consume them secretly in the shelter?
is it fair to stop performing luggage checks on incoming evacuees so as not to delay the registration process but endanger the volunteer staff and other persons with the very realistic truth of drugs, alcohol and weapons being brought into the shelter?
am i less than compassionate when it frustrates me to scrub emesis from the floor near a nauseated child while his mother lies nearby, watching me work 26 hours straight, not even raising her head from the pillow to comfort her own son?
why does it insense me to hear a man say "i ain't goin' home 'til i get my fema check" when i would love to just go home and see my daughters who i have only seen 3 times this week?
is the system flawed when the privately insured patient must find a way to get to the pharmacy, fill his prescription and pay his copay while the fema declaration allows the uninsured person to acquire free medications under the disaster rules?
does it seem odd that the nurse volunteering at the shelter is paying for childcare while the evacuee sits on a cot during the day as the shelter provides a "daycare"?
have government entitlements created this mentality and am i facilitating it with my work?
will i be a bad person, merciless nurse or poor christian if i hesitate to work at the next shelter because i have worked for 7 days being called every curse word imaginable, feeling threatened and fearing for my personal safety in the shelter?
Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.
After the Northridge Earthquake I witnessed altruistic behavior from nearly everyone.
In hospital work I've found most people are appreciative of their care. (I've only floated to ER to care for critical care patients such as TPA)
Most (not all)of the few truly rude patients, as compared to just grumpy people who are feeling bad or frighten, have been either wealthy, homeless, or mentally ill. Often two of the three.
I think it's not true, and Snopes will eventually put it through the smell test, I hope. I volunteered at a local shelter after Katrina, and didn't see any of this kind of stuff- at all. What I did see were a lot of shell-shocked people, who were frantically trying to reach their missing family members. I still correspond with one guy (a Katrina evacuee), who busied himself with helping us take care of others. I ended up working with another, who decided to stay here, after she came here as an evacuee. She is now a nursing student. The first thing she did when she got here was to take advantage of job opportunities offered to the evacuees at the center.
We had some Gustav evacuees at the same shelter recently. I didn't volunteer this time, but have heard no such stories.
These kinds of emails are mean-spirited, and racial in tone. They really anger me. It was probably written by someone with an agenda, that hasn't lifted a finger to help a hurricane evacuee (and has probably never met one) in the first place. JMHO.
I haven't read the entire thread, but the OP smells of that story that circulated after Katrina about the people who went to Salt Lake City, and one of the evacuees was discovered to have $100,000 in cash and 100 pounds of drugs on him.
I seriously doubt that.
Remember the stories about how the Astrodome was covered in graffiti? Really? How could that happen with TV cameras all over the place, 24/7?
There was a story about a Katrina evacuee who came to my area (rural Illinois) and I personally became suspicious when she said her belongings, all of them, had been stolen EIGHT times while she was in shelters. It turned out her house had been damaged in the storm - damaged as in lost a few shingles, and she is now in prison for fraud. Edit: Incidentally, she's white.
Sure, it disgusts me that people can be so mean and self-centered, but I am in no way offended. That's just life anymore. If every mean-spirited or entitled person offended me, I sure wouldn't be studying nursing and I definitely wouldn't be able to get through everyday life . Maybe "disgust" was too strong of a word. Mean people really just make me roll my eyes and come home to vent to my husband .
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to spark so much controversy. I just thought that since it was eye-opening for me, that others involved in nursing might be interested to see it also. I was unaware of the similar things going around after Katrina that were eventually proven to be false (I didn't live in New Orleans when Katrina hit).
The letter is real, and is in fact written by a real nurse. I have corresponded with her spouse, and they truly seem like kind people.
It is real? That stinks, that people can be so ungrateful.
In 2005, we did get some hurricane people but they were from here or had relatives living here, and they were legitimately in need. I think my town got a couple dozen, and most of them were able to go back.
ok, just call me a gal who grew up in Wi. worked in Mn, and now live in florida,, just where in the heck has anyone said what color anyone was? I might have missed it........ the only post so far which had me appalled was the person who wrote Louisiana, like somehow that was suppose to be some sort of coverall answer.......
the media liked to throw the race card around during katrina but it was not factual
the people in in the lower 9th ward were as a matter of fact about 90% black and they were hard hit when the levees burst but in upscale st bernard parish were the ratio was like 90% white and the destrction was total...people who had worked all their lives to build up a busines and homes were wiped out in a single day...that didn't appeal to the media so it was seldom reported
Specializes in peds,ortho,phonetriage, author, insuranc.
ok, what is the right story? i could see both sides/ it would be awful if it was that bad and the nurse was not treated with respect that she/or he deserved / as often occurs but not always. I hope that the spirit of caring and volunteerism perseveres in all future encounters for this nurse who gave of her/his own time for a full week. and dont give up on all people who want to say thank you for those rude ones you did see- perhaps it was a reminder of remembering to note those great parents and people we do see in each day thru small random acts that we may take for granted. i know i have.
thanks .. and good luck in future.. best wishes.:redbeathe
there was a story about a katrina evacuee who came to my area (rural illinois) and i personally became suspicious when she said her belongings, all of them, had been stolen eight times while she was in shelters. it turned out her house had been damaged in the storm - damaged as in lost a few shingles, and she is now in prison for fraud. edit: incidentally, she's white.
my point precisely...scum comes in all colors and genders.:argue:
most of the nurses who volunteered were doing regular work like passing out supplies and helping people who needed to get on internet to find familiy members [katrina]
there were medical care shelters and some of people in regular shelters needed assessment and help with medication and renewing prescription
my dd lives in shreveport area and some of those nurses who volunteered during katrina are doing civilian volunteer because they feel like their licenses were on the line, there were still able to observe and reccomend medical care but their status was not readily available to the evacuees
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herring_RN, ASN, BSN
3,651 Posts
After the Northridge Earthquake I witnessed altruistic behavior from nearly everyone.
In hospital work I've found most people are appreciative of their care. (I've only floated to ER to care for critical care patients such as TPA)
Most (not all)of the few truly rude patients, as compared to just grumpy people who are feeling bad or frighten, have been either wealthy, homeless, or mentally ill. Often two of the three.