An open letter to the #NursesUnite movement

[disillusionedrn]

An open letter in response to #NursesUnite:

It is amazing that you have finally found a cause to unite over (#nursesunite), however, I find it hard to jump on board this superficial bandwagon that actually serves the nursing profession no purpose whatsoever.

I have pondered over the last week why it is that so many nurses take such offense to the few words of an ignorant television host, being that Ms. Behar has zero impact or influence on the healthcare profession or the role of nursing, yet they do nothing to end the many real issues plaguing the nursing profession.

The only conclusion that I can come up with is that nurses feel that they can't do much to change the real problems in nursing, so they unite and attack over something that really makes no difference at all to us as a whole.

There are so many other REAL aspects of the nursing profession to unite over to influence change that will actually make a difference to nursing. There are many "dirty secrets" of nursing that go unspoken and ignored, many of which are cultivated by nurses themselves.

Bullying, horizontal violence, inadequate training, nurses "eating their young", 12+ hour shifts, no breaks, high acuities, too many patients per nurse, etc.

I went into nursing because I like to help people. I am empathetic. I am a quick thinker. I am smart. But that isn't actually what makes a nurse successful in this profession, as I have come to find out. As I have come to find out, nursing has less to do with how competent or compassionate you are, and more to do with how much you can, or are willing to, put up with. The nursing culture is full of "suck it ups" and "oh well, it is how it is."

What seems to make a nurse successful is the ability to withstand bullying, intimidation, being talked down to by supervisors, patients, family members, and doctors. The ability to get over inadequate training and support provided by management and your peers and to be okay with unsafe patio to nurse ratios. You'll feel more confident in time, it's just a part of nursing.

To be successful in nursing, you have to be okay with having zero time to take a break (even a bathroom break) and most times, taking your lunch sometimes 8 hours past your start time, or sometimes not even getting a lunch. You have to be okay with being dehydrated while hanging patient's IV bags and shaking from not being able to take a break and eat while you are checking diabetic's blood sugars and teaching the importance of proper urinary hygiene to avoid UTIs while you've been holding your own urine for the past 5 hours. Nurses are expected to just be okay with it. It's just a part of nursing, right?

You have to be okay with coming in early to "get familiar" with your patient load and not getting paid for that time. You have to be okay with staying well past your shift to give report on a regular basis, taking your total time on the clock (and off) well into 14-15 hours, which means that you are so tired driving home that you hope you make it there without crashing because your brain is tired mush. But long shifts are just a part of nursing.

You have to be okay with having to do more with less, even if it affects patient safety and outcomes. You have to be okay with doctors yelling at you and treating you like you're an incompetent idiot rather than a professional colleague in health care. You know that if you call a doctor to clarify orders or to update on your mutual patient, you may be met with disdain and sarcasm. But that's okay too, because it's just a part of nursing.

Nurses know this to be true. Nurses know these are the dirty secrets of nursing. Nurses know that bullying is rampant. Yet, the answer to this problem is "grow a thicker skin" or "you'll just get used to it".

Nurses know that understaffing is a given and that high acuity and high patient loads per nurse is more common than not. Nurses know this isn't safe, they know the care being given isn't what it should or could be, but they do not unite together against it and demand change.

Nurses know that there is often a lack of adequate training and preceptorship for new grads and new employees entering new specialty areas and that too many times nurses get thrown to the wolves and it's a sink or swim mentality. But, this is just a part of nursing we accept.

Nurses know this. They live it. They experience it. It is the culture of nursing. Yet, there is no call to end it. No hash tag. No selfies. No viral campaign on social media. No standing up to it. Just the continued mentality that these things are just a part of nursing that you have to accept or leave.

So, instead of uniting together against something or someone that has no impact on nursing, why not stand up and unite against the things that are killing the nursing profession and demand they change?

Sincerely,

A disillusioned nurse

[TriciaJ, RN]

Playing with the other side of the fence, here.

There are those of us who don't have any recourse but to simply "suck it up." We don't like it, the door is there, but good luck finding someplace that doesn't have the same attitude without moving out of state. And when there is family involved, that suddenly becomes very difficult.

The average person doesn't see, hear, or even get some of the bigger issues that nurses face on a daily basis. Patient violence? Call security or the cops, that's what they're there for. Safe staffing? Lateral violence? Ratios? These are all topics that I have discussed with my non-healthcare family. My husband still doesn't get it, and I've had years to try and explain it all. The responses all boil down to the same thing: then why stay there? (Here, let me show you all the publications on these topics, family.)

Then, suddenly, somebody comes out onto the national stage, says her piece, and is skewered by a daytime talk show that is full of ignorance or trying to be funny. Possibly both. And "aha!" Said a nurse. "This could be the opening that we need to get our voices heard!" A hashtag is born, and, like everything else these days, takes on a life of its own...then has baby hashtags.

Less than a minute to take, post, and tag a selfie, so do it while a chart is loading. Does it do anything? Probably not, outside of making the poster feel involved. Feel heard, and maybe even feel valued beyond the fragile lip service that is so often all that is given from others.

I've listened to everything, several time over. And while I don't feel the same about the general topic of Alzheimer's patients, I really identify with the idea that I'm not "just a nurse."

There are several ways that I cam see this going. One, like most things, it will fizzle out. Two, it will become a new status quo. Or three, we can use the platform that has stayed to open up to us and claim it. Make it our own. Nurses are uniting, but over what? A piece of equipment? Or being given a chance to be heard without any apparent backlash?

I posted my comment before I saw this post, but it sums it up way better than I did.

[Emergent, RN]

I finally viewed the offensive commentary. I don't even know who these people are, the women on the show seemed lowbrow, coorifice, and obnoxious. I don't care what they think.

The show appears to be stupid.

[icuRNmaggie, BSN, RN]

There are 55,000+ signatures on the petition to Disney Corp and the View at change.org demanding an apology.

I would like to see #nursesunite write a petition requesting legislation for Federally mandated nurse patient ratios.

[Emergent, RN]

Yes, who cares about The View? Twitter and Facebook campaigns are all hot air. People like and share, then wait for their canonization.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I finally viewed the offensive commentary. I don't even know who these people are, the women on the show seemed lowbrow, coorifice, and obnoxious. I don't care what they think.

The show appears to be stupid.

And yet, The View has been on the air continuously since August 1997. It appeals to the lowest common denominator in American society, and people keep watching year after year because it seemingly causes something to resonate from deep within.

Whether we realize it or not, viewers love insults, coorificeness and put-downs. For some people, negativity causes a temporary ego boost.

[nurseactivist]

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/provide-federal-legislation-nurse-patient-ratios

If you decide to sign, you have to confirm your signature in your email.

[Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN]

I finally viewed the offensive commentary. I don't even know who these people are, the women on the show seemed lowbrow, coorifice, and obnoxious. I don't care what they think.

The show appears to be stupid.

Yup. But some of those memes are pretty darn funny! They make a great distraction from all the human suffering I witness on a regular basis.

[nurseactivist]

I sent this email to my congresswoman and senator.

I previously described the issue of Miss Colorado, RN being disrespected by the TV show The View. Hosts asked why the nurse was using a "doctor's stethescope" and called scrubs a "costume." Since Monday a facebook page has been set up: "show me your stethescope" and it has 708,000 members, mostly nurses. Multiple ad companies have pulled their ads from The View. It is not wise to infuriate the nurses. (Working on getting nation wide nursing ratios).

[greenerpastures]

I felt the same way. Why can't we unite to do something good for ourselves? I received an email from National Nurses United to check out there push to send letters to my senators to support national ratios. I reposted it on a webpage with the hashtag Nurses Unite, hoping that others would review it. If we can get senators to support us nationally, maybe we could get some change. We are one of the largest work forces in the country. If we joined together, we'd be unstoppable!

[nursel56]

Nurses will never unite. Depressing but true. They might want to, but they won't. The turf-guarding behavior in nursing is embedded in the system. An example that comes to mind would be the mandated ratios in California where both LVNs and RNs fought the good fight.

The law defines a nurse as "LVN or RN" and all ratios apply to both. As a result of the successful ratio campaign the NNU (National Nurses United) was born. Their new union excluded the LVNs who were in the trenches beside them. Stuff like that tends to make people resentful and not inclined to unite.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

There are 55,000+ signatures on the petition to Disney Corp and the View at change.org demanding an apology.

I would like to see #nursesunite write a petition requesting legislation for Federally mandated nurse patient ratios.

The same Corporation who in fact goes to various facilities and teaches us "customer service" their way?!

Until we have nurse leaders that are invested in changes, who are held to the standards of a business as opposed to what is safe and right, things will be the same old, same old.

Unfortunetely, the suits who collect the profits are vastly uninterested in anything but #whereisthemoneyhoney

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

Some of the selfies in the Show Me Your Stethoscope group- eek. Not all of them, or even most of them. But a few of them.

Advertisers are pulling their sponsorships, so it's definitely making an impact.

The View: Advertisers Exit After Miss America Nurse Monologue Joke Backlash : People.com

I agree, it would be amazing if we could get nurses to unite for safe staffing.