Who speaks up for the Nursing Profession ?

[MarkonCRT]

It seems that there is a constant flow of information that is presented by the media that belittles and demeans the actual role and responsibilities of the nurse. I can't think of any profession that would allow themselves to be tethered to an electronic monitor that tracks every move without a huge fight. Would physicians allow cameras at the bedside wash basin to monitor hand washing ? And why hasn't this been suggested as a way to reduce infection rates? Maybe little frowning smiley faces that they wear on their foreheads for the rest of the day if they forget.

Where are the people who stand up for nurses and defends against the misinformation and attacks? A group that is as well educated, task oriented and hard working as this group should be able cull a few outspoken RN, BSN and MSN's from the ranks. Med errors are depicted as acts of incompetence in the news.... where is the comeback that tells of the increased workload of more acutely ill patients that foster an error as administration looks for ways to increase the margins?

Maybe the need exists to look at all these retiring nurses that are due to leave the field. No fear of retribution, and I guarantee that many of them are very very aware of how information is manipulated.

Just saying !

[cecilsgirl]

Good post! and med errors are also in long term nursing where the nurse has 50 patients to pass meds to , and all the stuff they put up with too. It is not just the hospitals that burn the nurse out. I am also amazed that nurses don't lobby more for changes, or do something! I have about 11 years left to work, .. and that is if my body and mind can make it that long!! What can we do??

[nurse2033, MSN, RN]

Nursing as a profession needs to stand up and sometimes say "no". The nature of nursing is to endure, overcome, and never turn anyone down for anything. I agree with the poster that the current state of nursing is driving people away. We need to agree to not tolerate things that should not be tolerated, such as unsafe staffing situations. National leadership seems out of touch like when advocating doctorates for NPs in the face of a provider shortage. They also have failed to provide compelling reasons to promote the BSN over the ASN. Change starts with us.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

join your nursing professional organization. There is strength in numbers.

[MarkonCRT]

the center for nursing advocacy states that in 2004 there were 2.9 million rn's nationwide. i'm sure that the numbers are higher now. the organizations that you speak of seem to have no voice. if they did, there would be a call for outrage against the portrait of nurses as an expendable commodity that can constantly be made into the scape goat of poor care that is fostered through fiscal policy that ignores the outcome of the patient.

i don't need a 20 million dollar study to know that qualified nurses in greater numbers in an acute care setting would reduce morbidity and mortality. this basic fact seems to be ignored over and over. the cost of one electronic monitoring system may very well have paid for the additional coverage that would have prevented errors for patients.

if you have two guys shingling a roof when the job calls for five, you shouldn't be surprised when the job is late being done, the workers are injured or burnt out and a leak develops around the chimney. the way it's looked at now, is to have an electronic monitor around the roofers neck to make sure all the nails are driven in. make sure that the homeowner and neighbors are well taken care of by the understaffed team, chart relentlessly the progress at the direction of the roofing company owner, both paper and electronically, and then sit silently by when the roofing company owner blames the lazy workers for the imperfections and disgruntled neighbor who found a nail in their yard.

i'll give anybody who disagrees the chance to flame me now by saying that i'm not a nurse. i am a respiratory therapist just starting nursing school, married to a woman who has been an lpn, and a rn for 30 plus years.

it's extremely sad for me to see how this demanding profession is being treated and minimized.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Whoo eeee - y'all are right on!

We do have some strong advocates, but they have a hard time being 'heard' when their message is contrary to everything the public has always believed. I am a huge fan of Suzanne Gordon - not a nurse, but has done an enormous amount of research... http://www.suzannegordon.com/ She has written a dozen very factual books about the plight of nurses and the dismal track record of nursing leadership and health care organizations. Read some of her stuff, you'll see what I mean.

Leah Curtin (the mother of nursing ethics) is another well-known nurse advocate http://www.workingnurse.com/articles/Profiles-in-Nursing-Leah-Curtin-Mother-of-Nursing-Ethics.

[mama_d, BSN, RN]

When I read "Against the Odds" (Suzanne Gordon) I felt so validated...things I'd been saying for years, and that I felt as if mgmt was ignoring, were all over that book.

If only there was a way to make it required reading in a low-level general English/Lit course, maybe more people would understand what we're facing.

[MarkonCRT]

Thanks for the heads up on Suzanne Gorden. I orderd the book today. Thanks to all those who responded back, and a special thanks for working your butts off for a number of years.:)