Jump to content
Article Contest - The New Normal: What Do You Think It Will Look Like?

Naturally Brilliant BSN, RN

Member Member Nurse
  • Joined:
  • Last Visited:
  • 167

    Content

  • 0

    Articles

  • 4,966

    Visitors

  • 0

    Followers

  • 0

    Points

Naturally Brilliant has 4 years experience as a BSN, RN.

Naturally Brilliant's Latest Activity

  1. Naturally Brilliant
    Lots of Americans are having trouble paying for basic necessities, among housing. Nurses and hospital workers are sadly no exception.
  2. Naturally Brilliant
    Because of the Coronavirus? No. The only thing that would make me quit is marrying Emma Stone and living off her Hollywood earnings.
  3. Naturally Brilliant

    U.S. Now Has the World's Largest Number of COVID Deaths

    Naturally Brilliant replied to tnbutterfly - Mary's topic in Disasters

    Because of that. (Courtesy of Wikipedia)
  4. Naturally Brilliant
    They're calling it the "COVID-19 Heroes Fund". Read about it here: https://fox8.com/news/coronavirus/senate-democrats-propose-hero-fund-offering-essential-workers-up-to-25k-in-hazard-pay/ https://www.democrats.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Heroes Fund FINAL 4.7.20.pdf Hey, I wouldn't mind an additional $13 an hour!
  5. Naturally Brilliant

    Should handshaking be obliterated from our culture?

    Naturally Brilliant replied to Saiderap's topic in Disasters

    I've worked in healthcare for nearly a decade and I almost always shook hands with people I newly met. And no, handshaking is part of our etiquette. Things will go back to normal once the Coronavirus crisis is over.
  6. Naturally Brilliant

    New to the field and feeling guilty

    Naturally Brilliant replied to telephone2468's topic in Disasters

    You shouldn't feel guilty over your feelings. This is a sentiment I'm sure that most nurses will agree with me on, and something you'll probably accept in your healthcare career: Management and administration will inevitably screw you over and try to make you accept it as the best situation possible. In George Orwell's 1984, remember that the state didn't win because they destroyed Winston. They won because they got him to love Big Brother while accepting his death at the hands of the state. When they've convinced you that their best interests are your best interests too, that's when you know they've done their job right.
  7. Naturally Brilliant
    Okay then, quit. You're right, nursing isn't the military. Nobody is forcing you to care for patients afflicted by Coronavirus or any other pathological condition. Nobody is going to court-martial you for desertion or even strip you of your nursing license if you don't want to do it. There's no "dishonorable discharge" here. For the record, doctors, nurses, techs, and other healthcare staff have cared for patients worldwide with a whole host of communicable diseases, ranging from the common cold and the flu up to Marburg and Ebola. They did it voluntarily and based on the belief that they wanted to get these sick sufferers back to health, despite the personal risk. If your mom or dad had (heaven forbid) Coronavirus and were hospitalized for it, I presume you'd want doctors and nurses who cared for your parent's recovery there and gave them the care and medical attention as they needed, rather than treating them like some sort of feral diseased animal best avoided (or a reason to quit work altogether).
  8. Naturally Brilliant
    So the real mortality rate would be even lower because there's plenty of people who are asymptomatic or have such mild symptoms they're not going to bother getting tested (whether due to availability of the tests or personal choice).
  9. Naturally Brilliant
    No disrespect, but I think there's some self-selection bias in play here. The sickest Coronavirus sufferers are the ones who are going to be the hospitalized patients. For every patient in the hospital with Coronavirus, there's probably about ten times as many at home recuperating, in various stages of illness. The current mortality rate in the U.S. is about 3% to 4%: https://coronavirus.1point3acres.com/en https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries Oh, come on. It's more virulent than the flu, but it's not Ebola, either. I'm not saying folks shouldn't take the Coronavirus serious, but it's not a coin-flip on survivability if you do get it. The War in Iraq was very dangerous. Nearly 4,500 American soldiers lost their lives there. But you know how many U.S. soldiers served in Iraq altogether? More than 2 million. Do the math. Plus, you could quit your job and live Coronavirus-free until this crisis is over, then get hit by a car and die the very next day. Life is about risk mitigation, not risk avoidance. You can choose to manage risk, including caring for patients with Coronavirus, and that's what many doctors and nurses today are doing.
  10. Naturally Brilliant

    COVID-19 NJ/NY State of Affairs and Future Predictions

    Naturally Brilliant replied to theoneandonly's topic in Disasters

    I live in Houston and think we in Texas really dodged a bullet with this Coronavirus thing. We are natural social distancers, with lots of urban and suburban sprawl. Here, there are no subways, and the car is king in Texas. Our housing arrangements mean that our apartments and houses are spacious and spread apart, so we're way less likely to be breathing each others' air than in a more densely populated area. Hopefully at the beginning of May our governor Abbott can put an end to this stay-at-home order and reopen our economy. It's not worth going into a Second Great Depression over, anyway. For me, that's awesome news! I voted Bernie (who dropped out yesterday) because I wanted Medicare For All. I'll vote for Trump in November. If the system collapses we'll end up with universal healthcare, because the alternative would be everyone filing for bankruptcy over medical bills and the end of our capitalist system as we know it.
  11. Naturally Brilliant

    COVID-19 Job Abandonment News Story - They didn't show up for 2 days

    Naturally Brilliant replied to Mergirlc's topic in Disasters

    The reason's incredibly obvious. A nursing home isn't going to have the level of protection for staff and policies to protect residents the way a major hospital would. Even without Coronavirus, turnover among staff at nursing homes is ridiculously high (I've heard that CNAs usually quit in a month or two) because of the amount of work coupled with the criminally low pay. Their employees probably weren't getting Cadillac health insurance, either. So why would they go to work every day knowing the likelihood they'd get Coronavirus would end up being extremely high?
  12. Naturally Brilliant

    COVID-19 Job Abandonment News Story - They didn't show up for 2 days

    Naturally Brilliant replied to Mergirlc's topic in Disasters

    I feel nothing but schadenfreude. Those nursing homes are already notorious for low-paid and physically draining labor, especially for nursing assistants. And when you're not going to give PPE to the workers, why should they risk their lives for an employer that treats them as disposable? Nobody is stopping the nursing home's proprietors and management from stepping in to fill the labor shortage personally. You get what you give.
  13. Naturally Brilliant
    You all have to see this: As coronavirus fears grow, doctors and nurses face abuse, attacks This makes me so angry! If I were living in one of those nations, I'd just quit my job and live off of my savings throughout the Coronavirus crisis. I'd say, "Oh, you hate doctors and nurses now? Fine! Heal your Corona issues yourselves, then!"
  14. Naturally Brilliant
    It's not even love. It's media-driven infatuation. Real love entails sacrifice, and if American society is one thing, it's sacrifice-averse. Most Americans will gladly tie a yellow ribbon around a friggin' tree to "support the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan". They'll also have no qualms about applauding nurses from the comfort of their own balconies after shift change. Those are slacktivist deeds which give zero meaningful support to those on the front lines. You only get the respect you feel you deserve. That's why nurses need to organize for their interests and work conditions on a continual basis, not just during crises like the Coronavirus.
  15. Naturally Brilliant

    Need some advice as an immunocompromised nurse

    Naturally Brilliant replied to lachundra87's topic in Disasters

    You may want to discuss this with your union rep (if your hospital is unionized) if management won't address this. Otherwise, it may be best to consult a lawyer for your legal options. You may want to keep on working on your oncology unit, while also putting in job applications to other oncology hospitals as a PRN/temp person to have a "foot in the door" as an exit strategy if things go south. But all in all, you ought to walk and not go to the COVID unit if you don't feel it's appropriate for your health. How are you supposed to care for patients when you are putting your own health in jeopardy?
  16. Naturally Brilliant
    I'm not here to be anyone's mother. And this isn't Nazi Germany. This is a free country. You cannot control others' actions - you can only control your own. If you stay 6+ feet away from such people you'll be alright.
×

By using the site you agree to our Privacy, Cookies, and Terms of Service Policies.

OK