E Non Imus, RN

If people who had coronavirus would turn neon pink the second they are infected, you might have a point. But people are contagious and shedding the virus when they speak or just breathe (not just cough) for many days before they develop a cough or a fever. Once you self-quarantine because you have symptoms, it is already too late. How many people did you come into contact with in just the last 7 days? If you suddenly develop a fever, cough, and shortness of breath today an pop positive, will you be able to notify or even remember them all?

This was my first thought, too. It is a strange situation, but I find it even stranger that people are making a point of the nurse's gender. In my mind, though, when I hear "male nurse", I wonder if that person also uses "female doctor" or "black pharmacist".

That would be the case if the credit transferred to other schools. In most of the cases for these students, they have a partial education that is good for exactly nothing. Can you take the NCLEX with 3/4ths of a nursing degree? A better analogy would be if I went to a fancy ice cream parlor (I'm thinking Beaches and Creams at the Yacht and Beach Club at Disney World) and ordered the most expensive thing on the menu and the waitress brought me a bag of rock salt and a bucket of cream. Yes, if I buy my own sugar and flavoring from another place and then mix it all together myself, she realistically would've sold me ice cream. But if I can't get the other ingredients, then she sold me nothing.

I think you hit the nail on the head. Many religious people feel the need to announce their particular chosen deity alignment and they think it is a hip way to give people a non-subtle small clue that they are involved in a exclusive club. Some people are sincere, but even they aren't thinking of how it is received. During the holiday season, I always use, "Happy Holidays" unless they have made some indication of which religion they have chosen. Then, I will use something more specific to what they are celebrating ("Merry Christmas", etc.). That is the first rule of speaking: know your audience. Plus, "blessed day" may not raise anyone's opinion of you. The default in America is to assume that everyone is a self-proclaimed Christian, so chances are nobody is going to think higher of you for announcing your religion. But they may think less of you, even if they chose to be Christian, too. You have a better chance of using something less polarizing and more inclusive.

You are right, but here in the US, did you ever hear a non-Christian say it? To be clear, there is a non-zero statistical chance that every oxygen molecule in the room will spontaneously move to the other side of the room and I'll suffocate, but the chances are so small that I don't consider the possibility during my day.

My wife is a horse trainer and a lifelong horsewoman. There is just something about them, isn't there? Physically, emotionally, and morally strong. I wish I had known about them earlier in life.

Maybe because the school agreed to train them and provide a degree? When I go into a restaurant and order a steak, if the chef lets me have two bites and then his lawyer comes and takes it away, I'm not paying the damn check. I ordered a whole steak, not two bites. Did they make a wise decision attending school there? No. But as you are looking down from your high horse, think about how many of your coworkers came from for-profit schools. I guarantee it is more than you realize. Some of the biggest idiots I've ever worked with came from some of the best schools in the country. The bigger question is: which kind of nurses are you okay with being screwed over? What schools did they have to come from for you to care? Which specialties are on your approval list? Are there nurses of certain classes you are okay with being screwed? Everyone here needs to know because if they are not on one of your approved lists, we should probably know in advance that you don't have our backs.

Yeah, except they are now going after the parents of students who die to get out of their student loans. So, grieving parents who just lost someone loved to cancer or a drunk driver now have to come up with 5-6 figures just to be able to move on with their lives.

The problem with this line of argument is that the cost of providing the education has also skyrocketed. Every school is expected to have the newest computers, test prep programs, simulation labs, cafes, uniforms... I think the rise in cost can be partially, if not largely, attributed to more expensive tastes. It may not be that every student is given a free iPhone, but if a school doesn't drop six figures on creating a state-of-the-art simulation lab and all the other bells and whistles, then it won't be able to attract any enrollment. That being said, it also reflects the expensive tastes of the older generation who expect the escalating cold war of salaries and benefits but refuse to vote for legislators or bond initiatives that will fund the increases in education costs. It is greed, but it isn't quite entirely the younger generation's fault.

I see it as a matter of planning and integrity. I am a second-career nurse who was still paying student loans from the first degree. I applied for scholarships and grants, but received almost none (about 5% in scholarships). I didn't want any more loans to add onto the first. So, I got up every morning to teach at a local community college, went to classes for my BS to BSN program in the afternoon, worked at Best Buy in the evening, and had a small job on some nights after that. I graduated without any new loans. I knew what I was getting into and I don't let anyone remove the burden of my choices. Scholarships are something you plan on in advance. You promise the taxpayer (or in my case, private corporation/trust) that you will work hard during school to maintain good grades. If you fulfill that promise, you are a good person with integrity. Loans are also something you plan on in advance. You promise that you will work hard after graduation to be able to pay back the loan. If you don't fulfill that promise, you are going back on your word to a corporation and expect to get bailed out by the taxpayers. Now, it may not be your fault that your word is now meaningless, but your word is now meaningless. With my student loans from my first degree, I once had to borrow $75 from my dad just to make up the extra money to keep my payment up to date, but I always kept my word. Yes, the taxpayers (us) are paying the same either way. I'm sympathetic to people who want assistance for their loans, but it is different when you no longer want to do what you promised you would do. (FWIW, I don't see a problem with loan forgiveness. You are helping people in need and just found a different way to keep your word.)

I was trying to keep an open mind until the school board completed their investigation. The reports I read came from sources that would benefit from a slant to the story. But if the Christian Post is saying it, too... well, we might as well start having the taxpayers in that county open their wallets. First, to the parents of the 8th grader. Then, to the nurse who will inevitably sue after she is fired.

Unfortunately, I don't know any school nurses to ask about this occurrence, but I wanted the opinion of fellow nurses. We won't know the full details of what happened until after the investigation. From: Atheist group says nurse refused Carlisle student over Pledge of Allegiance "the Wilson Middle School student was in the nurse's office with others who were ordered to stand when the Pledge [of Allegiance] was recited April 2. When the student refused to stand, she claims the nurse refused to treat her." And: Atheists slam school nurse for refusing to treat student who won’t stand for Pledge of Allegiance "'Why didn't you stand for the Pledge?' the nurse reportedly asked loudly. The student said that she explained that she had the right not to participate. 'Fine! Then leave! I have the right to not service you!' the student said the nurse shouted in reply. 'The student reports that she left the nurse's office in tears and went to the administrative offices to call her mother,' Miller wrote. A secretary then led the student to an office, but at that time the same nurse appeared again, saying, ‘She isn't calling a parent until I have a long conversation with her!''" With the recent push in the U.S. for professionals to be able to refuse service based on personal belief, what does everyone think about nurses being able to have this same right that many people want afforded to florists, pastry chefs, and pizza restaurants? Why should it be different? What about when it comes to children? I don't care for the Pledge of Allegiance and won't be teaching it to my son, but is it enough in determining whether I'm going to provide service to have a belief in whether something is patriotic enough? Does it have to be something religious?

Don't forget that at the end of the episode of Scrubs where everyone was using "murse", Dr. Reid was sitting in the lunchroom and surrounded by docs razzing her for dating a murse. Remember the last line of the episode was her offhandedly shutting them all up by saying, "Please. You all WISH you could bag a nurse."