What happens if we all quit?

Nurses COVID

Published

I've heard a lot of complaints about inadequate PPE (with good reason) and a lot of talk about whether or not to quit the job because of the PPE situation.

There is no doubt that multiple entities in this country dropped the ball (I'll avoid pointing fingers at specifics because that's a separate, although related, discussion), but we are here now. WE, as nurses and frontline medical personel, are where we are in far from ideal situations and we have absolutely no option to go back in time and make better decisions to prepare for this.

We cannot waste time pointing fingers and being angry. Save that for later once this has settled and we are discussing how to handle future pandemics. It is absolutely useless right now. So what is our next move?

The only two options I'm aware of is to make the most of what we have and fight this thing or quit now.

So what happens if we all quit? What happens when all healthcare workers decide to make a point and abandon their roles on the frontlines of this thing? What happens when I'm sitting at home in my false sense of security, patting myself on the back for making a stand against our inept system and my mom or dad gets sick? My partner? or me? Do I go to the hospital and hope that a handful of nurses and doctors stuck around? Or do I sit at home and facetime my loved ones gasping on inadequate lungs for their last breath?

If you are a healthcare worker who quit because of this, then don't come back or send your loved ones to the hospital if you or they get sick........to strain a compromised system that needed you and you abandoned.

We are the healers. This is a stupid situation and it sucks, and I'm angry too that entities we set in place to do their part and mitigate this onslaught totally bungled it. But I'm still a part of this powerful group of healers, and we can't all just quit. It can't be an option. I'm not a sentimental person at all, but this is the most we have ever been needed in recent history.

Many of us are going to get sick, and some of us are going to die, some of us are going to have to take care of other healthcare workers and help them fight for their own life. That's just the way it's going to be. But the more of us that stand together and fight this and brainstorm how to think outside the box and make the most of what we have, the better the outcome is going to be for EVERYONE. It will only be exponentially worse if everyone one of us that is scared and angry decides to quit.

So keep yourself healthy, stay clean, put on your crappy mask and let's fight this thing like ONLY WE, nurses and doctors and RTs and the like, are qualified to do. Then when the dust settles, let's work together and make sure future healthcare professionals never have to fight dragons with BB guns and cardboard armor ever again.

What happens if everyone with mortgages and medical bills all file for bankruptcy and default on their payments at the same time?

What happens if all the soldiers on active duty desert and decide that Afghanistan and other war zones are not worth it?

What happens if all the farm workers who don't get PPE refuse to harvest crops?

These hypotheticals never happen because most people can't afford to quit, whether financially, psychologically, or legally.

SansNom

116 Posts

17 minutes ago, Naturally Brilliant said:

What happens if everyone with mortgages and medical bills all file for bankruptcy and default on their payments at the same time?

What happens if all the soldiers on active duty desert and decide that Afghanistan and other war zones are not worth it?

What happens if all the farm workers who don't get PPE refuse to harvest crops?

These hypotheticals never happen because most people can't afford to quit, whether financially, psychologically, or legally.

well, let's hope you're right. unfortunately.

Avenger1

33 Posts

What happens if we all quit?

We all die.

The PPE shortage sucks. So does short staffing BEFORE CV19. So did the lack of armor on our humvees as we stormed into Iraq. "You go to war with the army you have, not the army you wish you had."

CV19 is a war and like any war the few will fight and sacrifice to protect the many. It is up to each individual to decide which group they are at peace being in.

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