Senator Maureen Walsh: When Do Nurses Have Time to Play Cards?

jeastridge, BSN, RN

Last Tuesday, April 16, the Washington State Senate was debating a bill that offered to protect nurses' break and lunch times. During the discussion, one of the senators, Maureen Walsh, offered the following comment: "By putting these types of mandates on a critical access hospital that literally serves a handful of individuals, I would submit to you those nurses probably do get breaks. They probably play cards for a considerable amount of the day.”

Her comments made headlines which led to a Twitter storm with nurses once again at the epicenter of a healthcare debate. As a first-term state senator, Walsh represents the 16th district of Walla Walla in southern Washington state.

Washington State Nurses' Association (WSNA) was quick to respond to the comments and called them "patronizing and demeaning.” The head of WSNA, Matthew Keller, went on to say, "No, Senator, nurses are not sitting around playing cards. They are taking care of your neighbors, your family, your community.”

The measure under consideration has the support of WSNA and it passed in the Senate but it passed with the two objectionable amendments attached: one to limit the number of hours nurses can work and one to remove the protections for meal and break times. It remains to be seen whether the governor will sign the bill —there is no indication at this time of Governor Jay Inslee's stance regarding the bill. The WSNA has vowed to fight the amendments.

Walsh later put forth additional comments that stated her support for nurses during a statement to KEPR TV, "The comment made about the ability to play cards was referring to the staff at the very rural and small critical access hospitals who may only serve a handful of patients and the staffing mandates are unnecessary.” She went further in her comments to the Tri-City Herald on Saturday saying, "I was tired. I said something I wish I hadn't.”

The backlash on social media and Twitter was swift and loud with many responses highlighting the general sentiment that nurses are often not afforded the respect they have earned and deserve. With a profession made up of almost 3 million strong, it would appear from comments such as the senator's, that we don't always receive recognition for what we do. It is also apparent that there is a real lack of understanding in the general public about exactly what our role is in the healthcare system. Because we do so much and in such a wide variety of settings, it IS hard for us to explain even to our family members what exactly occupies those 12 grueling hours each shift. I can remember struggling to share with my parents what it was that I did as a new graduate. They would ask me well-intentioned questions such as, "Did you give any medicines today?” As kind as they were, their difficulty in even knowing what to ask me about revealed how little they understood. Their struggle matches that of the public at large who would be hard pressed to say much about what nurses actually do.

One obvious point that comes from this episode is that Maureen Walsh and all our elected officials need to take the time to get to know better what they are talking about as relates to the legislation at hand. It is impossible to make good legislative decisions if you have no concept of the role these professional nurses play in the healthcare realm. We hope that the groups that represent us, the professional organizations that many of us join and pay our dues to, will take this opportunity to offer to educate the senators of Washington State and to use this platform to share information about nursing as a profession with the country at large.

One of the reasons Walsh's comments strike such a nerve is that they are the exact opposite of what most nurses face on the job. As a group, we tend to struggle daily with being short staffed and feeling spread so thin that we are unable to complete even the essentials much less the optional duties. The chronic callbacks, the sense of needing to work while not feeling well, and the documentation pressures seem to mount every day. All of these current realities make the senator's comments like a public slap in the face of a profession that works hard, a lot, under tough conditions, doing all we can with less and less.

This imprudent and insensitive remark by Walsh can become an opportunity. We can use our voices to let others know what we really do. We can become our own best advocates by not letting this mean-spirited comment be the winning note in a discordant world.

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This reminds me of another degrading comment made by a clueless individual about a certain nurse on a public stage wearing a doctor's stethoscope...

Senator Maureen Walsh: When Do Nurses Have Time to Play Cards?

About jeastridge, BSN, RN

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