saarein

Please read the link I have added here. It is a letter to Mr. Obama concerning a better way to go with Health Reform. Phttp://www.galen.org/component,8/action,show_content/id,13/blog_id,1143/category_id,2/type,33/

Please, I think we have beat this dead horse enough! We will have to agree to disagree on this subject. There are those of us who will not just sit by and accept everything that is hand fed to us. No matter what anyone tells us, we have our principles and ideas of what is right and wrong. I really do think we need a way to vent our frustrations of this mess in a more pragmatic way; taking more of my hard earned money out of my paycheck so other people can enjoy the "right" of having insurance is not the way!

i do think it is the holy grail along with the declaration of independence and the magna carta. i hold these documents in high esteem along with the brave men and women who risked life and limb to give you and me the freedoms we enjoy. i, too, am finished with this thread for other reasons not mentioned here, but very obvious.

Your basic innate recognition of a human right to healthcare would be the compassion of healing and care-giving, not robbing from me and giving to others who have had the chance to prosper and pull themselves up by the bootstraps the way I learned to do. I grew up in a very poor neighborhood and was among those who were looked upon as being dirt poor, but my father decided that his children were not going to be labeled the same way he had been. I was the first in my family (both sides) to graduate from college. I find it very discouraging when those in power and some of us not in power to lower all the standards so those who are "less fortunate" may be able to be taken care of. Well, it is my experience that if there are no expectations, you will not go that extra mile to prove that you are able to. I don't mind helping, I give to my church and also give on a regular basis to four charities. I have heard over the years people stating that a person can be one heartbeat away from being homeless(homeless, by the way, does not always mean one is out on the street or sleeping in cars; it can mean you just don't have a place of your own. You could be living with relatives or friends). I beg to differ with them, I will not be homeless. My fathers display of hard work (working 2 jobs all his life) and his wanting to give his children a future has been enough for me to know that the human spirit is stronger than those in power want us to believe. Times have changed and I'm sure there are plenty of people who don't remember when there wasn't a lot of free things. Those were hard times, I certainly remember, but my family got through it. I'm sorry if I have been rambling on and on, but I just don't understand the mind-set of people who will not or think they cannot take care of their own.

Just as I posted before, if one disagrees with the majority then that one person is made to feel as if they have three heads or are Attilla the Hun. Yes, I am in the healthcare industry and no I don't think one of the rights of a human being is healthcare. I don't think the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence points out that one of my rights is healthcare. I have the right for the pursuit of happiness and taking out 44% of my husband's and mine income is not a pursuit of my happiness. I don't understand how anyone could possibly not think that our taxes will go up with this estimated trillion dollar business our government is thinking about going into and will have to grow another teet on that old sow for everyone to step up to the trough to partake. I also think that Marx had another idea in that statement. I'm sure he meant that everyone should be equal and that equality means that the government takes from those who can afford to give to those who can't afford. I'm all for helping those who can't help themselves, but not at the expense of those of us who try to go by the rules and still cannot get ahead. No, I don't want anyone to suffer and how dare you imply that I would like that!! And the attitudes I was brought up with were wonderful. I was taught rsponsibility, respect, honesty, and question everything. I respectfully disagree with you about everyone who has had UHC loving it. I work with a few people who have come from those countries and they didn't like it and saw lots of flaws in it. Sure, they don't like our system, either, and neither do I. I'm a capitalist and feel that we need to add more competition for the insurance companies, and our government should not be in the insurance business. We have had a lot of changes since January 20th, and all the changes have cost us, our children, and our grandchildren a lot of money, so do we need to push this through at the speed of light, too? I'm sorry that I cannot jump into step with everyone else on this post and maybe I should just unsubscribe to "allnurses.com" altogether. I don't want to argue and bicker about this and yes, I do not think we can resolve this and I know we will not do it if those of us who disagree continually get reprimanded and accused of not being compassionate. That makes us dig our heels in all the more!

How is it that everyone is paying? There are people who do not work and pay taxes. So how do they pay? If they don't pay now, how will they pay with the "free healthcare"? Medicaid will not go away, so those of us who do pay taxes still pay for Medicaid and will then pay for the "free insurance plan", too. I do have another question, what happens when those of us who do have insurance through our employers find that those employers do not want to contribute anymore because it's too expensive and "besides the employee can get free healthcare that the government is offering"? I am not in the mindset for the government to take care of me. That is not their job, it is my job. There is a slippery slope we are coming to and we need to think with the intelligence God has given us and think of a better way. There is a quote from Karl Marx that makes the hair on the nape of my neck stand up and it is "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs". Isn't that what we do now?

Thank you so much for saying what had to be said! I try not to write too many replies because of my politics, which do lean to the right. Every time I have replied to a touchy subject I feel I get attacked by those who would want to stiffle my opinion. If by chance I want to take my opinion further I am made to feel guilty because either, quoting from someone from this thread the other day, "I'm either taking care of me and mine", or "I don't care about anyone else". I do care about people and how they receive healthcare. For goodness sakes I am a nurse! I do wish we could have intelligent conversations without resorting to name calling or accusatory language. This is a very emotionally charged subject and we, as nurses, know this first hand. But there is something else we must think about and that is not to jump to conclusions about other people's freedom of speech and freedom of opinions. We all have different areas of nursing that we are specialists in. Mine is pediatrics. I have been a school nurse for 10 years and have never seen a child turned away from medical care. In fact, I have begged parents to take their children to the doctor. If they do not have private insurance, they usually have Medicaid or there are several free clinics in my county they can take them to. But I still have to beg these parents to take them even to the free clinics. The only time I have seen a child not being able to receive healthcare is when an irresponsible parent will not take them and get the free healthcare. I take offense to anyone who states that there are some of us who have the mindset of taking care of our own first and not think twice about those who do not have what we may have. As a responsible human being and mother, yes I think of mine first, that's what I am supposed to do. No one else needs to take care of me or mine, that's my job. What a novel idea!

I think you are mistaken, it will not be everyone who will be paying. Not everyone now pays taxes. In fact there are a lot of people who get refunds from the government who do not pay into it. I think that is called earned income credit. I am a school nurse and I estimate that over 30% of the parents who's children I take care of have no job or do not want a job because there are too many "free" things out there for them. Now there will be "free" healthcare that I will be paying for. My husband has no employees with his business. I work to have insurance and I am confident that the 1400.00 I pay for insurance for the year will be a lot less than the hike in taxes to pay for those who have no insurance. There should be insurance reform or how about the judges not awarding millions of dollars to people whose common sense stopped working!

I would like to know how all this "free healthcare" is going to be paid for. Who is going to pay for it? Nothing is free! My husband and I already pay enough taxes for three people. He has his own business and with federal taxes (no state~we live in FL), medicare, business insurance, unemployment insurance, we see about 56% of our money. Now will we have more taxes taken out for "free healthcare"? Will I have to get a second job? Oh boy!

I'm sorry, but I don't quite believe the half truths of Michael Moore. Yes, I have watched all his documentaries and I have found that I don't quite like the way he spins his stories. I'm not ready to drink from Michael Moore's cup of kool-aide at this time.

I think it would be appropriate for fergus51 to update the US nurses with any changes that have occurred between her "lengthy post", which was written if you noticed in 2004, and now, 2009!

CONGRATS!!!!

How about "oldtimers". That's what I have heard from so many patients and some medical people!

If you get stung by fire ants and you can stand it use bleach and warm water. When I first moved here the dog and I stepped in a whole mess of fire ants. She had the good sense to get away from them right away, but I didn't know why she was jumping away from me until I felt the horrible pain in my feet and looked down and could barely see my feet! The lady next door brought out a pan filled mostly with bleach and a little bit of water. The pain dissipated within 30 seconds. My feet were covered with small raised blisters from the bites, though!

Not giving Td's for childhood vaccinations anymore. Age 11-12 they give Tdap now. For the last 4 years there has been a resurgence of Pertussis in the population and the Tdap covers that need. Over time we lose our immunity for Pertussis that we received from the Dtap.

Sorry about the "sister" comment. I guess I didn't do my homework and look at your profile. As my kids would say "my bad"!!! Generators are such a blessing; we went out and bought a very large generator after hurricane season 2004. That's the first thing you should buy when you move here. I can't figure out why it takes so long to do road repairs or build roads down here. I can understand why it took so long up north. There's that thing called winter, but down here the weather is beautiful so much of the time.

Preach it sister!!LOL You're right, even though I am one of those people you speak of. But when we first moved here exactly 10 years ago yesterday it was beautiful. We'd go to the beach and it would be pristine and the air had that salty clean aroma. I just went to the beach two days before Christmas and I couldn't believe it was the same beach. Trash everywhere! I think I spent the good part of my time there picking up the trash. Traffic is another problem. WOW! Maybe it's just the holidays, but I haven't seen this much traffic since I've been here. And rude on top of it. I do think it's what you make of it. There isn't an in between feeling for Florida. I must admit I don't hate it as much as I used to. I don't cry everyday to go back to Indiana. Just every now and then I get this overwhelming feeling of loneliness for the familiar smells, sounds, sights, and people of my "home". There's no going back for me because my husband has his own business down here now and starting another, so I have to give up the dream of going back "home" because in reality this is my home, now. So to the original person who posted this question, I don't think anyone really hates Florida, I think they thought the grass was greener and found out it wasn't. There are no four seasons here, but there is sunshine 98% of the time. There are an abundant of elderly persons, but remember we are the baby boomer generation and there are a lot of us (I'm at the end of that generation). The traffic goes in cycles. The summer months are good because the snow birds have all gone and no school buses on the roads. The heat is bad in the summer and fall, and the bugs are bad, but there are always trade-offs when you live in paradise!! The schools are not the problem, it's the parents who are not being parents that is the problem with our schools. Parents don't discipline at home and schools are not allowed to discipline, so there is chaos. Electric bills are high in summer, but very low in winter. Hurricanes are tracked and you know when to leave, unlike tornadoes (which I experienced one up north) that come from nowhere. So I'll quit rambling and I really think this thread has outlived it's usefulness. Sharon

"This is because his education is ultimately my responsibility as his parent." That is what I have been stating! The education system down here does not work unless the parents decide it is their responsibility as a parent!!! The schools are NOT third world schools. They are very good and the teachers are by far the best I have seen, so the question is why are there so many drop-outs and so many pregnancies? I have noticed over the last 10 years the hordes of people coming down here from up north and I think they are looking for a utopia that doesn't exist. They come here thinking there are jobs galore and when they cannot find a job they become disillusioned and are unable to return to their original state because they have no money. I have commented many times to my husband about the many poor, unfortunate children who are homeless. At my elementary school alone, there are 80% of the children who have free or reduced school lunches. This is not a new phenomenon that would accompany the bad economy. This has been going on for nine years since I've been a school nurse. So if you have children in the public school system and they are flourishing, then pat yourself on the back because you are definitely doing your job!!! Sharon

I'm not trying to put down your state, I'm just stating the facts about things that need to change to make this a state that children will be able to get a great education. There cannot be education when parents will not be parents. You cannot be a friend and a parent at the same time. I have children in the middle school who smoke pot with their parents. I have 15 year olds who are counting down the days until they turn 16 so they can quit school. I have girls who have never been told about their periods, let alone told how they can get pregnant. Don't get me wrong, this happens everywhere in the US, but I live here and here is where I am interested in and want to help change things for these kids!!!

Gabrielle, I do agree about the schools being in chaos. The teachers cannot control these children because the parents won't let them! I disagree with you that FL hates kids. I feel as though their parents hate them! Remember, I'm in the school system and I want to tell you that 75% of these parents could care less what their children are learning in school and they don't encourage their children to be good students and to better themselves. FL has the highest dropout rate in America. It also has one of the highest teen pregnancy rate. I have two high schools and have 20 some pregnant girls in one high school and 44 in another. I also have a middle school who has 7 pregnant girls. Where are their parents and why in God's name do we have such an archaic system regarding sex- ed? So Fl isn't the one we need to point the hate finger at, it's the adults in these children lives!!

Suzanne, Congrats!! You have worked hard and I do remember it well! I'm so proud of your accomplishment. It is a long and hard path to travel down with all the bumps along the way but when you finally arrive, it is all worth it. I have to tell you this debasing of nurses with lower than BSN degrees has gone on long before I became a nurse back in 1990 and I am sorry to say I feel it will continue to exist unless we (all RN's) come to the realization that we are all NURSES, period! I chose the ASN route because I had small children and my husband and I needed more cash flow and needed it as soon as possible and I couldn't afford another two years for college. I read a comment on another thread that the LPN's and ASN's do not have a good education and have flooded the nursing field. Does this "superior than thou" attitude exists with all BSN graduates? For goodness sakes we all take the same boards. There is not one test for the BSN's and one test for the ASN's. We will never have a large enough voice to empower the masses if we are fractured at the base. I've been a hospital patient on a couple of ocassions and when I look at the name pin and see he/she is an RN, I don't care if there is a BSN or ASN after the RN. I make my judgment on the skills I observe and the way he/she treat me as a human being lying in that bed. Now don't get me wrong, I do think going back to school for my BSN will be an advantage for me and I am planning on doing that next fall, but as to the skill level, we are all on the same wave length, at least we have all been prepared the same way. How we choose to market ourselves is up to us. I had a co-worker who graduated from the same school (IU) the same year as I and she let it slip one day that she wanted a different name tag with the BSN after the RN (the hospital we worked for at the time would not differentiate between BSN, ASN, or diploma graduates on name tags) because she worked hard for that degree and she didn't want anyone to think she was an ASN graduate. Needless to say I didn't look at her with the same respect as I had before her comment. I think some nursing schools perpetuate this notion and that is such a shame since we are all working for the same ideals. So, Suzanne, be prepared to weather the storm of comments from your fellow nurses. Take heart though, not all are like that. I have worked with many nurses, BSN, ASN, Diploma, and LPN's, and they have been the most brightest, nicest, caring people to have crossed my path. I thank God for everyone I have been blessed to work with. Some have been what I aspire to become and some have not. So good luck and may God bless you always. Merry Christmas, Sharon

I live between Largo and Seminole which is not bad. There are a lot of run down areas in Largo, but there are a lot in St. Pete, also. You just have to look long and hard for the right areas. Last month it was very tolerable with heat and humidity. Like I stated before we are in the months that are nice. It really heats up come June through October. During that time there isn't a day that the humidity is below 75%. I can tolerate the heat, it's that humidity that is a killer. I work for Pinellas County School District as a school RN. I have 4 schools with 4200 students. I have heard many comments on how some people would love being a school nurse because it's so easy. But being responsible for 4200 students is not easy. I do love my job. The students are usually great to work with, it's the parents that you have trouble with at times. I know Keiser is pretty good. I applied months ago when they had an add in the paper, but I have no experience with teaching. If you move to the Tampabay area let me know. S.

As a school nurse, I have to be at a shelter during hurricanes. Our district school system has an agreement with the Public Health Dept. to help man all the shelters in the county. With the famous four hurricanes of '04 I was always away from my family while they were preparing for the storms "that can't compare to the storms up north"!!!! I think everyone has something bad to say about the area they live in, but the grass is always greener...

I live in Largo, about 5 minutes from the beach. Usually December thru April are very good weather. Not much rain but blue skies and breezes without that horrible humidity day in and day out!:wink2: