Radio Talk Show Host Calls Nurses"Kevorkian Fan Club"!!

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RN1989

1,348 Posts

OK, sounds like you guys are on the right track. I think you need to contact the newspapers. Ask for the reporter that does medical or human interest stories. Tell them what the guy said, what you guys have done about it, that suddenly the stuff was taken off the blog, and that you think this deserves a story since this guy is the representative of a politician. Be prepared to speak about the differences of DNR vs Kevorkian, what nurses really do, etc. It would be great to have a reporter show up at the senate offices asking questions about "Are these your views or the views of the senator?" Why did you remove the offending items from the blog?" etc. Talk about a boost for the reporter's readership as well as nursing. This is your time to educate the public on a wider scale. Don't stop now! If you can't get a reporter interested, then draft a great letter with all the key points and start sending it to various newspaper editors - chances are your letter will get published. Even think about sending a letter to the editor of a big paper, like Chicago, NYC, D.C.......the possibilities are endless.

Simplepleasures

1,355 Posts

OK, sounds like you guys are on the right track. I think you need to contact the newspapers. Ask for the reporter that does medical or human interest stories. Tell them what the guy said, what you guys have done about it, that suddenly the stuff was taken off the blog, and that you think this deserves a story since this guy is the representative of a politician. Be prepared to speak about the differences of DNR vs Kevorkian, what nurses really do, etc. It would be great to have a reporter show up at the senate offices asking questions about "Are these your views or the views of the senator?" Why did you remove the offending items from the blog?" etc. Talk about a boost for the reporter's readership as well as nursing. This is your time to educate the public on a wider scale. Don't stop now! If you can't get a reporter interested, then draft a great letter with all the key points and start sending it to various newspaper editors - chances are your letter will get published. Even think about sending a letter to the editor of a big paper, like Chicago, NYC, D.C.......the possibilities are endless.
No on air apology, well Im not surprised.I will still contact the Milwaukee paper and see about Chicago.
Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.

Good! This a big pet peeve of mine. They did this in the Terri Shiavo case, I read on a religious site some extreme 'right to life' people accusing nurses of being into euthanasia in that case, and saying how rampant that attitude is in nursing. It really discredits the pro-life movement when they make inflammatory statements based on their own ignorance of reality.

Simplepleasures

1,355 Posts

His blog is up again, or my link was no good, try this, you can leave a message directly on his blog.

http://blogs.franklinnow.com/this_just_in/archive/2007/12/10/do-not-resuscitate.aspx , I hope this works, I am able to access the blog from my computer.There have been some interesting comments by listeners.I wonder if the link will work from Allnurses.

Simplepleasures

1,355 Posts

YES!! the link works, anyone want to post a comment on his blog, feel free.

Simplepleasures

1,355 Posts

Well, maybe I should feel honored , this Kevin Fisher guy actually wrote a whole blog entry in my honor.He is QUITE riled up at me for several reasons, one being that I threatened to write the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about him and his comments toward nurses who honored a DNR order and those parents who requested one.I originally thought he was a generally good guy,WRONG, but a decent human being, I am beginning to wonder what his REAL motivation is, maybe he IS just a shock jock like some here have stated.It is worth going to the link I provided in my first post to listen to the podcast of the radio show, so he cannot continue to say I did not represent what he said on the radio show accuratly. He also stated on his blog of 12/11/2007 that we nurses here on Allnurses who responded to my original post about him were disrespectful of HIM, yet he doesnt seem to admit to being disrespectful of nurses and parents when he calls them members of the "Kevorkian Fan Club".

http://blogs.franklinnow.com/this_just_in/archive/2007/12/11/dnr-disrespectful-nurses-respond.aspx

EmmaG, RN

2,999 Posts

The link doesn't work...

Specializes in CT ,ICU,CCU,Tele,ED,Hospice.

emmanuel the link in response number 28 works .thats the one i used and responded on the blog.

UM Review RN, ASN, RN

1 Article; 5,163 Posts

Specializes in Utilization Management.

It doesn't work again. I did read his response and my assessment is that he's completely clueless as to the REAL facts of life.

I don't need to try to change his mind; time will.

MQ Edna

1 Article; 1,741 Posts

Hmm... wow. Another shock-jock... the thing that irritates me about this situation is that he is obviously uneducated when it comes to the subject he is flamming about... yet others will listen to him and believe what he says just because he is apart of the media machine. Arguing about it will just egg him on, raise his ratings and in the end help him. I think he has a right to say what he says, but he should be held accountable as a professional for spouting off such direct, uneducated and sensless insults. How dare he tell nurses how they should do their job when there is already enough pressure from everyone else who would have hung us if we DID go against the orders. Personally if someone is a DNR, who am I or anyone else to disobey that order? As far as Kevorkian goes... I think if a mentally sound, terminally ill pt. would rather end their suffering than go on if there is no hope of recovery... then who are we to say that, "No. You must fight on, even though you no longer have the strength or the tolerance for pain and suffering."

Simplepleasures

1,355 Posts

The link now works, I dont know why his blog is accessable one day and not the next, strange.Here is the link to the Disrespectful Nurses Respond blog.

http://blogs.franklinnow.com/this_just_in/archive/2007/12/11/dnr-disrespectful-nurses-respond.aspx

This worked just a minute ago. Worth reading. He continues to unabashedly critisize nurses for following a DNR order, he expects them to do..... what?

RN1989

1,348 Posts

I just read Mr. Fischer's blog regarding the nurses that called in. I am sorry to say that I believe that this is not a winnable situation and that by continuing to send this man a response will only further injure the nursing profession. If someone who actually heard the show can write a focused, credible letter to an editor, etc. that is likely the only thing that will save this cause.

I was unable to access his radio show, thus I am not going to send anything to him or anyone else (although I am dying too, just from reading his remarks), since I believe that I must hear the show first hand to have any credibility.

Anyone with any sense will be able to see that his blog is merely that of an extremely ignorant sounding person. You can see from his picture that he is too old to be throwing tantrums in his blog that sound like a petulant child. One only wonders how someone like him has been able to maintain a job in the political arena. But then again.....

Although I am saddened that someone with his ability to capture an audience enjoys staying ignorant of the true issues in healthcare, I am even more saddened that he felt that there were quite a few people that called in were unable to remain professional in their tone of voice and/or words. I understand that this kind of thing evokes an extremely emotional response. Nurses cannot afford to allow their emotions to translate into anything that can be perceived as disrespectful, yelling, and angry by other people. Situations such as this one are indicative of the reason that nursing is not considered to be a professional occupation. Nurses, being 99% women, become emotional under the stress of a personal attack and go off half cocked without a plan that will actually win the battle. Thus we still are considered by some to be childish, ignorant, unimportant, handmaidens to doctors.

I know it is difficult to remain calm under these types of situations. But alienating others so that they are unwilling to listen to a different viewpoint does not help the situation. Oftentimes we are not even aware of the inflections in our voice and that as women, our voices tend to become much higher pitched and strained when we are upset.

I would recommend that everyone who desires to launch a campaign for nursing, against un-informed people such as this man, remember that you cannot be emotional. You must state the facts making sure that you can back up those facts, before you write a note, an email, or make a call that allows the other person to turn YOU into the bad guy. You do NOT see an attorney going after someone without investigating the facts. Attorneys are often considered to be arrogant or snobby because their demeanor is usually one of aloof detachment. This doesn't mean that they don't care. They do understand that becoming emotional and speaking without focus on the correct issues in a sensical, non-threatening manner does not persuade someone to their side. In fact, threats are generally considered to be a last ditch effort of a dying case. You don't threaten to do something, you just DO it quietly and watch the fallout later (this tactic works well with bad employers too).

Gallup polls show that nurses are more respected more than almost anyone else. Some years we even top the list at number 1. But we don't want to risk being thought of as spoiled children because we are unable to articulate the issues clearly and succinctly.

Since everyone has seen how these issues can just appear out of nowhere, we all need to start being ready to speak to the issues. Know the facts, know what you are talking about. Nurses can assess a situation and act in a matter of seconds because they are trained to do that. But they aren't necessarily so good at doing this outside of their job environment. Everyone needs to train themselves to speak extemporaneously in a professional, well educated manner so that nurses ARE heard and not swept under the carpet.

The war is not over. Nurses will get another chance to speak to the issues. Let's make sure that we are all ready.

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