Oh yeah....

Oh....okay.

The triumphant return of man candy Saturday

The view is going down/nurses are sick and tired of the lack of respect

More advertisers are jumping ship from the view. Sweet. I hope they cancel this idiot fest.

I hope all of this makes nurses realize how much power we have.  There are over 3 million of us in this country.  Our numbers give us power.  We need to use it. The problem with our profession is we are too nice. We let people shit all over us, from the patients to the doctors to the management.

I am going to take a giant leap out there and say we are the most important people in the health care system.  Wow, you mean more important than doctors??  Yup. We are the people that actually CARE for the patients. We are there 24/7.  Without us, patients don' t get better, they develop complications, they die.

The reaction of nurses to the view comments reflects the exhaustion of nurses across this country. Our jobs become more and more complex an stressful. We work our butts off daily, with little recognition. We are EXHAUSTED. We are FED UP. Then somebody has the audacity to dismiss us as a profession on national TV.  Uh no...I don't think so.....

Thank you Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson, a well known supporter of nurses and nursing for a long time, has pulled it's advertising from the view after disparaging remarks toward nurses about a week ago.  For that, we thank them.

Johnson and Johnson has had commercials on TV for some time promoting nursing as  an effort to recruit more nurses into the profession. They call it " the campaign  for nursing's future". The whole "you're a nurse, you make a difference" cornball song.  Even though that commercial was lame, the thought is appreciated.

They have had some really good views of nurses on their commercials, including one about ER Nurses that I have included.

This whole debacle is an example of how little the public knows about our job .

Dear Joy Behar and the rest of the intellectual giants on "the view"

Dear Joy Behar and the rest of the intellectual giants on the view:

I hope you never come to the emergency room where I work.  You probably expect me to be wearing a white uniform with white hose and a nurses hat.  That's me trailing the doctor looking at him adoringly (I only went into nursing to find a rich doctor) carrying HIS (in your world only men are smart enough to be doctors)
 clipboard from room to room.  I'm also carrying his STETHOS COPE. I'm not sure what it's for but it seems like it's something really important.

Guess what moron? Nurses are the people who keep your dumbass alive in the hospital. We are there 24/7 while the doctor is home in bed. You have no idea, nor would you ever understand, the complexities of my job.  I take care of babies in the neonatalk intensive care unit who weigh less than a pound at birth.  I take care of people who have had heart transplants, lung transplants. I take care of the little kid who was hit by a car whose life is hanging by a thread in the ER.  I have saved people's lives.  Today I'm taking care of your mother on the ventilator who is on continual dialysis with ten different infusions and my knowledge is keeping her alive.

What did you do at your job today? Oh I bet you wrote you wrote one of your cute little "jokes".

Sincerely,

Every nurse in this country

ER daily work checklist

1) Check to see who I am working with an whether or not I can stand them

2) Walk past triage and see if there are any patients on carts in the hallway.  Yes - day just went to shit.   No - day won't go to shit til later.

3) Go to assignment area. Are there any drunks sleeping it off?  Prepare "heave ho" speech in head.

4) Are there any psych patients we are boarding?  Retrieve ear plugs for inevitable episode of agitation and scream fest later in shift.

5) Do I hate the doctor I am working with? Is it "order every test so I can bump up level of care and put money toward that boat I have my eye on" Dr. ? Retrieve flask from locker.

6) Am I the stabilization room nurse?  Psych self up for inevitable 99 year grandpa cardiac arrest that is not a DNR.

7) Are there no beds in the hospital? Prepare "I'm sorry you have to wait...." speech.

8) Fill pockets with snacks knowing your break will be hours from now as usual.

9) Gather mask with Vaseline for bad smells, ear plugs for screaming,  wipes for the bottoms of your shoes, extra pair of scrubs because you never know.....

10) Let the games begin....today's first contestant is a guy covered in shit who laid on the floor all night with decreased loc who reeks of booze....

Screaming Mimi

Hear that blood curdling scream?  That's my patient who isn't, shall we say, happy, about her impending mental health admission. Get ready, because her screaming will continue for the next half hour....til the meds kick in. The med I gave her after she was put in 4 point restraints.

Did I mention that this patient of mine is fourteen?  Mom and dad watched the whole scene unfold.

Did I mention that this patient is already on 3 psych med and has a couple of psych diagnoses? She is one of many teenagers we get in on a regular basis. I would say at least 50% of the mental health patients now are adolescents.

Did I mention that, as usual, there are no psych beds? This kid will probably still be here when I come back in two days....

What's up bitches?!!

Hi.....it's me......madness...