Should nurses be getting involved in the Reopen America protests nationwide?

Nurses COVID

Published

Check this out:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8235127/Defiant-healthcare-workers-clash-anti-lockdown-protesters-Colorado.html

I'm actually broadly sympathetic to the protesters. When you have 22 million Americans unemployed, massive lines at food banks, and even more projected layoffs, even a Second Great Depression, people are going to have had it. Even nurses and other hospital workers cannot get paid if the economy tanks and there's no money cycling through the U.S. system.

I think the quarantines have gone on way too long. We should have gone the Sweden herd immunity model in the first place. If people are still that scared of this Coronavirus they ought to quarantine themselves. The rest of the country shouldn't have to keep catering to the susceptible minority much longer. I'm grateful that I live in Texas and my governor seems committed to reopening our state in early May, whether hell or high water.

25 minutes ago, juniper222 said:

I'm going to refrain from any further political comments and so should everyone except in the lounge. It's too easy to get sucked into a political debate.

Agreed. Enough is enough. Thanks for the warning on the lounge. I think I'll avoid it.

1 hour ago, A Hit With The Ladies said:

But my state (Texas) is leading by reopening the economy in early May. We're heard enough of this Fauci guy harping day in and day out on TV. His fifteen minutes of fame are long past up. Time to get back to normal life.

Some of your points have some validity.

Consider the possibility that "this Fauci guy harping day" completely negates the points you want people to understand.

Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
1 hour ago, juniper222 said:

I'm going to refrain from any further political comments and so should everyone except in the lounge. It's too easy to get sucked into a political debate.

I think that is a wise choice.

Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
4 hours ago, HiddenAngels said:

this should have happened instead of the stimulus checks imo...

It should have happened WITH the stimulus cash which should have been repeating for many months...IMV

I support the protests... First Amendment right

My county has had 13 positive cases. We have been shut down for 5 weeks in CO, there is no reason rural areas and areas that aren't hot spots should not open up.

Not everyone qualifies for unemployment. My son is 18 and applying for jobs...no one is calling.

What about the 100s of thousands of deaths that will result from "elective" surgeries being put on hold, from suicide?

This is much bigger than this virus ( as bad as it is). We have to look at all factors.

1 hour ago, cartwrk said:

I support the protests... First Amendment right

My county has had 13 positive cases. We have been shut down for 5 weeks in CO, there is no reason rural areas and areas that aren't hot spots should not open up.

Yeah, that's about where it started in my semi-rural county too.... but not so much 13 anymore...

While I'm not so sure your first amendment right includes the right to spread a highly contagious and oft fatal virus (leaving aside the permanent lung damage), I'd consider saying by all means let the protesters protest so long as they're willing to sign a binding agreement forfeiting hospital treatment when they get infected....

Specializes in PACU, ED.

The shutdown is not without long term negative effects. Rural hospitals are hurting. This one in southern Arizona is the only hospital between Tucson and Nogales and might shut down.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-health/2020/04/04/hospital-southern-arizona-says-may-have-close-due-covid-19/5119264002/

I also just read that Threadgills in Austin has decided they will not reopen. Other small businesses and restaurants are hurting.

of course they are. Everyone is.

I'm just trying to figure out how reopening in states that haven't even peaked yet, further spreading the virus in extended waves is going to help these struggling businesses. Are you expecting that everything will just go on it's merry pre-pandemic way as the hospitals continue to be overwhelmed and people are watching their friends and family die? As I see it rather than instilling confidence, re-opening prematurely will cause the public to completely lose faith and trust and that sure as heck won't be good for business and will cause a much deeper and extended depression.

What we need to do is what South Korea and New Zealand did from the start and what China finally had to do to reopen. Test and trace by the MILLIONS while shutting EVERYTHING down simultaneous for several weeks. No more of this staged shut down and none of this McDonalds drive thru being open stuff.

If we had done that in the first place this would have been over by now. But it's still what has to be done to recover and the sooner that we face facts the better off we will be. Notice all the rich political donor crowd has flown out to New Zealand and is living it out there as we speak. They're certainly not risking their lives and that of other driving around city centers blocking ambulances. Nope , they want YOU to do that.

Specializes in Nurse Education.

Nursing is supposed to be evidence-based. This is the result of the Swedish herd immunity model:

image.thumb.png.00e2aaf5b52f1bc24feb73df64c05236.png

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1102257/cumulative-coronavirus-cases-in-the-nordics/

Not too impressive... And they have almost ten times the number of deaths of other Nordic countries.

https://news.Yahoo.com/sweden-nearly-10-times-number-210442597.html

Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
13 hours ago, A Hit With The Ladies said:

You can cut the sanctimonious attitude. There's nothing selfless or just about having 40-50% unemployment, daily breadlines, mass evictions and eventual starvation and widespread homelessness. America shouldn't just collapse because of Coronavirus.

Hard for it to collapse when everyone is dead. Your country now has the highest infection and death rates from covid.

To quote one of our former Primeministers, "economies recover, dead people dont".

Our country went into lock down for four weeks, our rates of covid infections which were doubling daily prior to the lock down are now back to single figures and decreasing daily.

Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
12 hours ago, juniper222 said:

You don't think the situation should allow for adjustment as needed? It's always nice to look at Trump's decisions with hindsight and criticize solely for political bias. How has any other U.S. president handled Coronavirus? Oh wait, there are no others. It is reasonable to allow for change as the situation changes. You would never say the things you're saying if it was Obama.

Your president went on television and stated something along the lines of "if only 10-20,000 people die from covid 19, we have done a good job". Its not critizing Trump based on political bias, I am critising him because he is an appaling leader, awful human being who has no business running a shoe store, never mind one of the most powerful countries in the world

And if Obama handled this as appallingly bad as Trump has you bet I would be saying exactly the same things. I didn't particularly like George W Bush, however he would have handled this 1000 times better than Trump has

Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, ICU.
9 hours ago, A Hit With The Ladies said:

But my state (Texas) is leading by reopening the economy in early May. We're heard enough of this Fauci guy harping day in and day out on TV. His fifteen minutes of fame are long past up. Time to get back to normal life.

"15 minutes of fame." Amazing. It's almost as if you have absolutely no clue who or what you're talking about.

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