My mom was a nurse, so I've been thinking a lot about today's viral story about the nurse who was arrested for refusing to allow a police officer to draw blood from an unconscious patient without a warrant. In my opinion, too much focus has been placed on the shitty cop who arrested her, and not enough on her plainspoken but deep-seated heroism. She is not just my mom: she is every nurse I've had the honor to know.
We ask far too much of nurses as it is! Nurses have to be experts in the multi-disciplinary field of health care, but also in human relations, administration, data management, and technology. And now they have to be hostage negotiators and constitutional scholars to get though a shift without being arrested by some overzealous cop? Jesus.
In addition to covering for bad behavior, the fetishization of law enforcement distracts from celebrating other everyday heroes. We need to ask more from police officers. We should not ask so much from nurses. They are in the shit every day for all of us.
We ask far too much of nurses as it is! Nurses have to be experts in the multi-disciplinary field of health care, but also in human relations, administration, data management, and technology. And now they have to be hostage negotiators and constitutional scholars to get though a shift without being arrested by some overzealous cop? Jesus.
In addition to covering for bad behavior, the fetishization of law enforcement distracts from celebrating other everyday heroes. We need to ask more from police officers. We should not ask so much from nurses. They are in the shit every day for all of us.
2 comments:
I was so down on the nursing profession early today without even being aware of this story. I logged online after work for the first time all day and immediate saw this story and felt like there is no way to win. Healthcare had me down and out. Thank you, Sam, for this new perspective! You refreshed my inner dialogue/feed.
������ Amy
Thanks, Amy! In my experience, nursing is a crucible that melts away a lot of BS and forges some pretty special people. Speaking as an outsider, the things you were feeling yesterday are not uncommon -- it's a difficult and stressful job. But the nurses I've known have felt those things, and they still gear up and care for patients every day with a high degree of skill and professionalism.
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