For the last 18 years, Gallup surveys has found that the American public holds nurses in the highest regard. Yes, we have declared nurses as the most honest and ethical profession. And with good cause. Nurses – and the myriad other health care professionals – choose to care for us when we are sick; come to work for eight to 12 or more hours at a stretch, sometimes without a break or the equipment they need to stay safe. They clean us up (think of it), drain all our tubes, prevent us from falling and whisper to us when we are delirious or even unconscious.
But that’s not all. Nurses also use powers of observation and experience to intuit when we are getting worse, use their precious compassion to encourage us on in the face of crisis and, yes, fine-tune our ventilator settings, change our positions, call the code. What would we ever do without them?
From the Sunday before Thanksgiving to the Sunday after the holiday, over 7 million Americans took to the air to visit family and friends. This was done despite the risk warnings from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, and despite the grave danger that our hospitals and health care providers will suffer. What will we do when there is no bed for us? What will we do when the nurses are sick and can no longer care for us? Will it be worth it that our most trusted and respected profession, our nurses, have been thrown to the wolves?
Call it what it is.
Marla H. Davis, MSN, R.N.
Woolwich
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