I feel like we are rapidly reaching jump ship level. My own sister (in her 40s with 4 kids and natural born Texas/US citizen) is actively migrating her family to Canada next year. Her daughter with a clef pallet cost her family 90K last year WITH insurance. Her husband makes $150K a year, so they managed...but Christ! My sister is so serious that she already submitted all her immigration papers and is waiting to hear back.
I work in a clinic. The ER at the hospital I work for has sent critical patients to our clinic because they 1) apparently have no staff that know how to evaluate for a emergency (I say this having 8 years ER experience under my belt). I had a patient go to the ER twice in 24 hours for urinary pain, bleeding 1 week post op. They sent him to the clinic pale AF, orthostatic blood pressure 80/40, bladder scan showed 330 after voiding (ended up being a giant number of clots that I got to try to hand irrigate in the OFFICE!). The ER did a UA at both visits and NOTHING ELSE.
You might want to say this is my institution in particular...however I haven't held a job at 1 institution for more than 3 years. I've traveled. So, yes, there are better and worse.....but they are ALL getting worse. Process improvement usually involve trying to make up care gaps with unlicensed, under educated, unqualified people OR have one qualified person do the work of 3-4 people (both of which create gross care gaps).
I wish I could go with my sister. This has only gotten worse in the 15 years I've been a nurse. I'm not proud of my field.
The fat acceptance movement is ultimately a negative one for health. I see obesity as a health issue, but many people see it as a vanity issue. I agree that people of all types should be loved and honored for who they are. But to ignore the massive health risks associated with obesity, or any other controllable risk factor, is just dishonest and ludicrous.
We need a real public educational outreach. If I hear one more time "They died suddenly and there was nothing wrong with them except some diabetes and a stroke," I might not be able to keep a straight face.
Specializes in Surgical Specialty Clinic - Ambulatory Care.
Emergent said:
I mostly agree with you. But, the behaviors described also are part of our general societal decline into entitlement and victimhood. And, there is a free will element. These people encounter the Healthcare System over and over, they are given good sound advice, but they continue to ignore it.
Hahahahah! This is not entirely true. You can give someone all the advice in the world, if it is not advice they can use it is worthless. Diabetic doctor "Take your insulin as ordered.” Diabetic "I have to ration my insulin because I'm trying to live off of $1400 a month.”
Primary doctor "Eat healthy.” Me "Well sliced turkey is $13 a pound...hard salami is $6.”
Like I said, the phlebotomist I work with, who works full time and has a side job can barely afford rent....and she has no lids or spouse. Good advice is only for people of privilege.
Hahahahah! This is not entirely true. You can give someone all the advice in the world, if it is not advice they can use it is worthless. Diabetic doctor "Take your insulin as ordered.” Diabetic "I have to ration my insulin because I'm trying to live off of $1400 a month.”
Primary doctor "Eat healthy.” Me "Well sliced turkey is $13 a pound...hard salami is $6.”
Like I said, the phlebotomist I work with, who works full time and has a side job can barely afford rent....and she has no lids or spouse. Good advice is only for people of privilege.
I was on an extremely tight budget in my twenties. My first husband was lazy, we were broke, and we had four little kids. I managed to cook very nutritional food on a very meager income. We ate a lot of beans and cheese, we had vegetables, I hid a lot of healthy foods in corn tortillas. We had chicken frequently, and ground beef which can be made very into many tasty dishes that kids like. I baked wholegrain bread and made homemade soy milk and tofu. I had all the kids at home and breastfed them for at least a year. They were extremely healthy.
The problem in America is that people don't want to cook from scratch anymore. If people would be willing to buy staples, and follow recipes, they can make nutritious food for their families on a small budget.
I blame our school system, which is failing our children in many ways. For one thing, somewhere along the line somebody decided that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So school started handing out free breakfasts to low-income children. I remember seeing them when my kids were in school. There was a lot of waffles with a lot of syrup, and not much nutrition. Also, home economics classes have fallen by the wayside, and no one is learning to cook from scratch, either from their parents, or the school system.
There's a lot of new evidence now that this constant exposure to high carbohydrate food actually contributes to the metabolic disorders that we are seeing in very young people. Fasting is actually good for the metabolism. It is the way we evolved, to cope with times of plenty and times of want. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors did not have McDonald's, or supermarkets to turn to. The human body evolved to cope with that reality.
Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
Emergent said:
I was on an extremely tight budget in my twenties. My first husband was lazy, we were broke, and we had four little kids. I managed to cook very nutritional food on a very meager income. We ate a lot of beans and cheese, we had vegetables, I hid a lot of healthy foods in corn tortillas. We had chicken frequently, and ground beef which can be made very into many tasty dishes that kids like. I baked wholegrain bread and made homemade soy milk and tofu. I had all the kids at home and breastfed them for at least a year. They were extremely healthy.
The problem in America is that people don't want to cook from scratch anymore. If people would be willing to buy staples, and follow recipes, they can make nutritious food for their families on a small budget.
I blame our school system, which is failing our children in many ways. For one thing, somewhere along the line somebody decided that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So school started handing out free breakfasts to low-income children. I remember seeing them when my kids were in school. There was a lot of waffles with a lot of syrup, and not much nutrition. Also, home economics classes have fallen by the wayside, and no one is learning to cook from scratch, either from their parents, or the school system.
There's a lot of new evidence now that this constant exposure to high carbohydrate food actually contributes to the metabolic disorders that we are seeing in very young people. Fasting is actually good for the metabolism. It is the way we evolved, to cope with times of plenty and times of want. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors did not have McDonald's, or supermarkets to turn to. The human body evolved to cope with that reality.
I agree with the general thinking, but it's not always about laziness. I know a young mom who works a full time job and has 2 side gigs. She is a good cook, when she has time. Her time is precious and choices have to be made.
We do need to expose our children to healthy foods as a matter of routine, and not syrups and sweeteners. Children should not be fasting as a part of their daily routine, IMV. Schools should be making sure that hungry students are fed at breakfast and lunch, since we require the kids to be at school during those meal times.
I agree with the general thinking, but it's not always about laziness. I know a young mom who works a full time job and has 2 side gigs. She is a good cook, when she has time. Her time is precious and choices have to be made.
We do need to expose our children to healthy foods as a matter of routine, and not syrups and sweeteners. Children should not be fasting as a part of their daily routine, IMV. Schools should be making sure that hungry students are fed at breakfast and lunch, since we require the kids to be at school during those meal times.
Our governor just signed a bill that would provide free meals for all kids. The marginalized kids don't have to be embarrassed and the food will be healthy.
Specializes in Surgical Specialty Clinic - Ambulatory Care.
Okay so here again I will put this forth to you. My parents did not have money either. We ate rice and beans and chilli most of the time, maybe cornbread and sausage. Right now being broke is very different than 40 years ago.
Have you tried to buy vegetables lately? How about a chicken? Do you know how much it costs to send a kid to day care? Is it even a question of a spouse being lazy when the work one spouse would do would hardly cover the day care costs? I'm fortunate, my nursing job does afford us a house so I can have a garden (That produced maybe 5 tomatoes, 2 zucchini's and a handful of green beans because I could not afford the watering required this year due to drought.) my 2 jobbed phlebotomist friend can't have a garden because she lives in an apartment. I live in Texas, you can't walk to the store every day here....mostly because urban areas are not set up for walking/ bike riding and it is 10 miles or more to the nearest one. When I lived in a very wealthy area of Illinois they had a community garden and it was walkable. But this is what I mean, resources for the resource poor are very bad right now. Haven't been great since 2008 but have been super bad since the pandemic. My whole generation are trying to squeeze kids in during our late 30s and early 40s because we couldn't even provide our offspring the security you were able to give your children with your lazy husband until our late 30s/40s.
I will also take another jab at your story. In your 20s maybe one can work two jobs, have toddlers, and still be able to have time to home cook and such. I can tell you trying to have the energy to do that in my 40s with a toddler is a no.
Lastly, I tried to breast feed my daughter. In the 12 weeks I had off (only 6 paid), I made exactly 1ml of milk and once I went back to work, there was no time or area during my shift to try to express milk. Because I do believe breast milk is important I paid for both beast milk another mother was willing to provide me with (which ended up only being 6 oz a day but it was something) AND formula because 6oz doesn't feed a baby. So no, I cannot get behind your generalization that people don't listen or want to do better. People have no time or finances to do better. The wealthy among us have to much power and there is not enough regulation that favors middle class earners. We should be doing 1/4 of the amount of work we are doing for the same pay.
Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
A few years ago, one of the local talk show hosts filmed the lunches of kids in a decile 1 (parents on very low income) school and lunches of a decile 10 school (parents on a high income) school
All the lunches were placed on the kids desks prior to filming in both schools. And both classes had 30 kids present on the day of filming.
Decile 1: 6-8 lunches present in the entire class, many were a packet of chips or a bottle of coke.
Decile 10: every desk had a lunch of it, sandwiches, baking, fruit museli bars.
I get it, we all get cynical about people who make crap decisions about their food, who seem unable to make good choices around their health. In NZ, we have people who are now second and third generation welfare recipients and have struggled with making good choices around health. I can see how its a struggle to make a different decision when you have only ever known a particular way to live.
I would love it if our government stopped throwing money at the problem and started putting in knowledge and classes that actually taught people how to make more healthy decisions.
A friend worked in a food bank. She told me about how they got a delivery of rolled oats and gave it out with food packages. They found that many packages of rolled oats were being chucked in the rubbish. People didn't know how to cook them.
@KalipsoRed21 it sounds like you took my post personally. I'm sorry you're having a hard time . I was just talking about cooking from scratch, which has become a rarity in our society. I'm sorry your breastfeeding didn't go well . Please don't take my posts as a personal attack on you in the future, because that's not what it was meant to be. Good luck to you .
A friend worked in a food bank. She told me about how they got a delivery of rolled oats and gave it out with food packages. They found that many packages of rolled oats were being chucked in the rubbish. People didn't know how to cook them.
I've heard the same thing about our local food bank. People have found the healthy foods thrown away. People don't want to soak beans overnight and cook them. They want instant foods like everybody else has.
Like @toomuchbaloney said, the food industry is also to blame with its aggressive advertising and inferior products .
Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
Emergent said:
I've heard the same thing about our local food bank. People have found the healthy foods thrown away. People don't want to soak beans overnight and cook them. They want instant foods like everybody else has.
Like @toomuchbaloney said, the food industry is also to blame with its aggressive advertising and inferior products .
Its like sure, just stick it in the microwave and its done in 2 minutes.
So often people don't know how to stick stuff in a pot and take 5 minutes to cook
Specializes in Surgical Specialty Clinic - Ambulatory Care.
Emergent said:
@KalipsoRed21 it sounds like you took my post personally. I'm sorry you're having a hard time . I was just talking about cooking from scratch, which has become a rarity in our society. I'm sorry your breastfeeding didn't go well . Please don't take my posts as a personal attack on you in the future, because that's not what it was meant to be. Good luck to you .
Thank you for the concern. No I didn't take it personally. I enjoy the debate so thank you for your thoughts.
I just find it frustrating as a millennial the response is often, "If I worked harder or did more" then this wouldn't be my story. At 40 I've come to realize that response to be just poor advice from people of a generation who don't share the same struggles as mine do. My husband is 20 years older than me...I know there was a really bad recession in the 70s and early 80s, but even my husband struggles with how little we have to live off of. And I know that we are better off than many people in lower positions in healthcare. Which is frankly terrible....no one with a full time job should be struggling to be able to have a safe place to live, healthy food, and the time to prepare it.
To me it just is futile. I'm finally able to have a house at 40 but won't own it until I'm 70. I'd love to have 1 more child, but it isn't likely without fertility treatments. I can't afford fertility treatments because I'm just barely able to afford our lifestyle as it is. And when I say 'lifestyle' I mean I have a house (that I paid a reasonable 230K for and was built in 1969) I have 2 used cars, we have the internet, cell phones, and cable TV. We eat out for breakfast twice a month, we can afford a big load of groceries once a month and I drive to work. My daughter has speech delay so we also spend $50 a week for her to go to speech therapy once a week. That is it. I have not bought scrubs in 2 years, if we get any new clothes it is from goodwill.
I grew up in the 80s. Neither of my parents went to college. My mom stayed at home and ran a daycare until I was 10 and my dad ran his own business fixing computers . My parents, at 23, had a newly built home, my sister and I got new clothes every year at the start of school...so did my mom. My sister and I went to dance class, played piano, we went out somewhere special to eat every Friday, went bowling or played Putt-putt golf.
The way I grew up is just such a juxtaposition to what I can offer my daughter as a parent. And I SPECIFICALLY went to college and got a Baccalaureate degree in a high demand field to ensure that I would do better than my parents, because despite everything I wrote above, my parents often felt like THEY were struggling financially. Income was not my only reason for choosing nursing, but it is why I chose nursing over nutrition.
I just honestly feel that the wealthy have to much power, employers have to much power, and that lower middle class and low income people aren't just making bad choices because they lack willpower or ability. They lack resources and time.
Its like sure, just stick it in the microwave and its done in 2 minutes.
So often people don't know how to stick stuff in a pot and take 5 minutes to cook
Or into a crock pot and let cook overnight. I just woke up to the smell of the roast that I picked up in the meat sale bin at the grocery. I have family coming to visit, and this, with some potatoes and carrots, will feed us decently. Or I could have ordered pizza at 3x cost to feed us
My cousin was trying to show her niece how to make homemade noodles a few weeks ago. Niece is in section 8 housing, $1100 a month in food stamps (way more than my food budget remotely allows for), has 3 kids ages 9-12. Doesn't work. Told cousin to make plenty and pack them separately and freeze for her. Cousin said "I'm trying to teach you how to make them, so you'll always know how, and can teach your kids". Niece and kids all told her they were not interested in learning, they have a social life to maintain, other things to do. All 3 kids think that they're going to be social media influencers ? and want junky quick food all of the time. Cousin made 1 batch, left it at that.
I know quite a few, of all ages, that are just like that. I also know quite a few that truly struggle. We can't pretend all fit into the latter mold. Sorry, not sorry
subee, MSN, CRNA
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We need a real public educational outreach. If I hear one more time "They died suddenly and there was nothing wrong with them except some diabetes and a stroke," I might not be able to keep a straight face.