simplicityjones

As a 20yr ICU nurse I can see the humor. It is dark, gallows humor. It is sad to say, but yes, the dark side of life is funny. Critical care nurses like ER nurses see a lot more than the average nurse. We see people at their best and worst. We often lose sight that people have feelings too. Most people cannot relate to what we see on a daily basis. If someone would had told me that I was going to be touching dead bodies and placing tubes in other people's body parts I would had called them sick. But, alas, is that not what we do? I have narcanned honor students, and homeless people, and lawyers, and housewives, and psych pt's. and on and on. I would never wear a shirt with that slogan. But I do not advertise that I am a nurse either. Just appreciate the humor and realize that the person who wears a t-shirt like that just doesn't feel the need to be politically correct. Isn't politically correctness the reason we are in the trouble we are in now anyways?

The problem with a program like Planetree is that most hospitals are already understaffed. I am a charge nurse in the ICU. There are days we are running around putting out fires and don't even get lunch breaks. Ideally Planetree works as a multidisciplinary system. Unfortunately, it is usually a teaching facility or a VERY well funded hospital that can accomplish this task. That also means a lot of people, good staffing, and usually a somewhat educated client. A Planetree model in a ghetto environment just propagates the feeling of entitlement. More money is spent to make EVERYONE happy. How do you care for a patient when you have to tip toe through a room full of sleeping bags because the room at the hospital has AC and the trailer that the family is living in doesn't. Good idea, just not realistic in all situations.