“Opinions have vested interests just as men have”
-Samuel Butler
It has been with considerable interest that I have been watching the reaction to proposed plans by the Obama administration in regards to healthcare reform in the media and on the blogosphere. Truthfully I decided to write about it this week because I am so seriously lacking any creative juices and this seems to be a less ponderous undertaking not to mention just being such an obvious target.
My first reaction to my little review of the various opinions around the topic in question was WOW, how little has changed in people rhetoric since the last time a democratic president suggested reform to healthcare. In fact it’s almost exactly the same! About the only substantive change I could actually detect was unlike when President Clinton stumbled into these shark infested waters all those years ago, we now have the blogosphere to read about it. Other than that it’s same old bullshit on both sides of the argument!
But without question the most disheartening thing I encountered was the tendency of some to try and use the Canadian health care system as an example of what can go wrong or to make the statement “do you want this?”
Okay Fair enough!
Feel free to use my countries health system as a whipping boy if you must because in some cases it’s a fair shot.
But that freely admitted I note that most people who where quick to draw the Canada card neglected to mention that some of the problems mentioned in regards to Canada’s "socialized" medical system also exist in most other industrialized countries health care systems regardless of if it’s a public or private model one is living or operating with.
But what really chapped my ass is the attempts by some to appear expert on the Canadian health system when they are obviously anything but.
Take some friendly advice, if the sum total of your knowledge about health care in Canada is because you managed to actually watch and not to sleep through a certain Michael Moore movie. Or your entire opinion is based on the fact that you know someone whose father’s mother’s dog spoke to guy who lives in Canada and say’s health care up here sucks, than my friend you don’t know jack! So stop acting, talking and writing like you do!
To close this rant off and just in case you haven’t already figured out where I sit on healthcare reform please allow me to summarize where I sit.
There is no such thing as a perfect health care system! But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't try to make something better regardless of where we live.
The reality is that despite what some will maintain regardless of the model presently in use no matter in what country, state, province, county or municipality we happen to be talking about it will have both strengths and weakness. To suggest that one system is somehow better than the other is to first ignore the problems of the system you’re promoting. Plus it implies that just because your particular system works for you that it will do the same for everyone else. Let me ask this, is anyone really so arrogant as to believe that’s actually the case? Is anyone foolish enough to think that the rest of the world is exactly like where you live and therefore the same solutions will apply?
Well just in case you do, I hate to be the bearer of bad news. The facts are the rest of the world is NOT like where you live no matter how much it may appear to be in your eyes. So stop thinking it is and more to the point stop thinking what ever system your presently stuck with is the end all to be all.
Lastly and certainly not least before anyone sends me still more hate mail or nasty comments and death threats make sure you understand what I’m saying here. I am not debating anyone’s right to express an opinion on this or any other topic. I am simply expressing my own response to some of your words and humbly suggesting that perhaps you consider taking sometime and getting a little more informed about both sides of the argument no matter what side of the fence you’re presently on.
That said if anyone can show me the model for a perfect health care system send it to me, I’ll be happy to drink deeply of that flavor of Kool-Aid!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
The dangers of sleep deprivation!
“I wasn’t really asleep I was just mediating on unconsciousness”
-Author Unknown
For some people one of the more unpleasant parts of being a nurse is the dreaded night shift.
Personally I’ve always preferred nights because for the most part there are less people like managers, doctors and families to slow me down or make my job generally harder to do. I also like nights because these days the truth of it is that at least in my neck of the woods the pay incentives to do so actually amount to something.
Bottom line for this Angry Nurse not only do I like night shifts,it’s all I work!
This is so much the case that even on my days off I maintain a night schedule. In fact for me 0400(4am for you non 24 hours clock types)is the same as 1600(4pm for you non 24 hours clock types).
I bring this up because one of my petty amusements is watching the “I hate nights” types struggle over the 0400 hump. These night haters will resort to any number of methods to stay awake sometimes with less success than others. Coffee is the rule for most, while others simply don’t stop moving. Keep this in mind just in case you someday find yourself in ER at night and wonder why certain nurses are circling like sharks.
But as previously mentioned sometimes despite the best laid plans things just don’t work out as intended. I have seen nurses fall asleep not only standing up, but while waiting on hold on the phone. In fact I once saw one poor girl actually strike her head on a desk because two minutes after she sat in a chair not only did she fall asleep, she fell over!
But my all time favorite sleep deprivation reaction occurred the other night. One of my colleagues who is not known for his love of nights was trying to bleary eyes and all dial the phone. Suddenly his eyes widened and he slammed the phone down. That action was followed by the equivalent of an Oh my god, and a chuckle. He then went on to explain that he had intended to dial the lab to add on some blood work but had instead dialed his home phone number where his wife who is also an ER nurse was in all likely hood sleeping contently.
Sadly he didn't actually mention if the phone had rang or not. But just the same the implications of his half asleep mistake offered a considerable number of amusing possibilities as to what could have happened if the phone had rung at his home, or perhaps worse what would have been his wife's reaction had she actually been woken up to answer.
Personally my money was on his loving wife rather than getting mad simply agreeing to do the blood work so she could find out later how long it took for him to figure it out that his add on blood work wasn't going to be done.
-Author Unknown
For some people one of the more unpleasant parts of being a nurse is the dreaded night shift.
Personally I’ve always preferred nights because for the most part there are less people like managers, doctors and families to slow me down or make my job generally harder to do. I also like nights because these days the truth of it is that at least in my neck of the woods the pay incentives to do so actually amount to something.
Bottom line for this Angry Nurse not only do I like night shifts,it’s all I work!
This is so much the case that even on my days off I maintain a night schedule. In fact for me 0400(4am for you non 24 hours clock types)is the same as 1600(4pm for you non 24 hours clock types).
I bring this up because one of my petty amusements is watching the “I hate nights” types struggle over the 0400 hump. These night haters will resort to any number of methods to stay awake sometimes with less success than others. Coffee is the rule for most, while others simply don’t stop moving. Keep this in mind just in case you someday find yourself in ER at night and wonder why certain nurses are circling like sharks.
But as previously mentioned sometimes despite the best laid plans things just don’t work out as intended. I have seen nurses fall asleep not only standing up, but while waiting on hold on the phone. In fact I once saw one poor girl actually strike her head on a desk because two minutes after she sat in a chair not only did she fall asleep, she fell over!
But my all time favorite sleep deprivation reaction occurred the other night. One of my colleagues who is not known for his love of nights was trying to bleary eyes and all dial the phone. Suddenly his eyes widened and he slammed the phone down. That action was followed by the equivalent of an Oh my god, and a chuckle. He then went on to explain that he had intended to dial the lab to add on some blood work but had instead dialed his home phone number where his wife who is also an ER nurse was in all likely hood sleeping contently.
Sadly he didn't actually mention if the phone had rang or not. But just the same the implications of his half asleep mistake offered a considerable number of amusing possibilities as to what could have happened if the phone had rung at his home, or perhaps worse what would have been his wife's reaction had she actually been woken up to answer.
Personally my money was on his loving wife rather than getting mad simply agreeing to do the blood work so she could find out later how long it took for him to figure it out that his add on blood work wasn't going to be done.
Monday, February 23, 2009
So much for effort being worth the reward
“Direct Threats require direct action”
-Dick Cheney
A patient threatened to kill me awhile back.
Hardly a new experience; in fact I’d have to say that a week doesn’t go by without someone threatening to do something to either me, my family, my pets, etc. I’m sure it’s a common experience for just about any ER nurse with more than a week or two of experience.
But what made this particular tirade different was the level of detail involved. This particular individual described how they were going to get a knife and cut my throat. When that failed to illicit anything more than a yawn this person began to say they were coming back with a shotgun to kill everyone in the ER. When my only response to that was to tell this individual that they needed to keep quiet now, they responded with the statement that their name was such and such and that I should remember it because they were going to “FU@K” me up.
As I said I'm used to being threatened, but a person crosses a line with me when they go from a general threat (I’m going to kill you) to a specific threat (I’m going to cut you Fu@king throat) so to be truthful I was pretty pissed off but allowed them to ramble on because:
1) I really had no choice
2) I wanted as many people as possible to hear these threats just in case anyone doubted what had really happened in the future.
The sad reality here is that as a “professional” I can’t do what I’d really like to do. So with little to no alternatives it was decided to pursue the one option left to us which was call the police.
What a waste of time that turned out to be!
While I’ll give credit to the local police for showing up, that was the extent of their reaction. From there the exercise for them seemed be about minimizing the situation as opposed to dealing with it.
When it was all said and done one has to wonder how different the outcome would have been had this individual threatened perhaps one of those police officers versus a lowly nurse.
Actually I don’t wonder at all; it seems to me that direct threats only require direct responses when someone deemed important is involved.
-Dick Cheney
A patient threatened to kill me awhile back.
Hardly a new experience; in fact I’d have to say that a week doesn’t go by without someone threatening to do something to either me, my family, my pets, etc. I’m sure it’s a common experience for just about any ER nurse with more than a week or two of experience.
But what made this particular tirade different was the level of detail involved. This particular individual described how they were going to get a knife and cut my throat. When that failed to illicit anything more than a yawn this person began to say they were coming back with a shotgun to kill everyone in the ER. When my only response to that was to tell this individual that they needed to keep quiet now, they responded with the statement that their name was such and such and that I should remember it because they were going to “FU@K” me up.
As I said I'm used to being threatened, but a person crosses a line with me when they go from a general threat (I’m going to kill you) to a specific threat (I’m going to cut you Fu@king throat) so to be truthful I was pretty pissed off but allowed them to ramble on because:
1) I really had no choice
2) I wanted as many people as possible to hear these threats just in case anyone doubted what had really happened in the future.
The sad reality here is that as a “professional” I can’t do what I’d really like to do. So with little to no alternatives it was decided to pursue the one option left to us which was call the police.
What a waste of time that turned out to be!
While I’ll give credit to the local police for showing up, that was the extent of their reaction. From there the exercise for them seemed be about minimizing the situation as opposed to dealing with it.
When it was all said and done one has to wonder how different the outcome would have been had this individual threatened perhaps one of those police officers versus a lowly nurse.
Actually I don’t wonder at all; it seems to me that direct threats only require direct responses when someone deemed important is involved.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Vacation Time
"Vacation is what you take when you can't take what you've been taking any longer"
-Author Unknown
Sorry Kids taking the week off, see you early next week.
-Author Unknown
Sorry Kids taking the week off, see you early next week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
