This is a good read and a very important topic. I have been a critical care nurse for over 20 years and I tell you most of the ICU doctors and nurses I know have advanced directives. I will not spend my final days tortured in ICU with no hope of survival. Do any of you realise how much money is wasted trying to save the the already terminally ill. In fairness to our ICU doctors they try to get families to stop the madness but people just torture their loved ones because they can’t make the decisions to withdraw care. Everyone no mater how young or old should have advanced directives!
Clarity Project: Suzanne Gordon on why Registered Nursing needs to be recognized as a knowledge profession
Doctors are smart. Registered Nurses are nice.
Suzanne Gordon, an award-winning journalist and author, believes registered nurses have a responsibility to create a better understanding of the registered nursing profession, overcoming the notion that nursing is simply about caring.
Gordon presented at the NLNU 23rd Biennial Convention during a full-day session on the Clarity Project. Gordon has spent half of her 42-year career writing about nursing and health care, and she’s beyond excited about NLNU’s Clarity Project. Why? Gordon believes registered nurses are misunderstood and undervalued, and that’s exactly what the Clarity Project is trying to change.
“Has anyone said to you, ‘you’re so smart, you should become a doctor?,’” Gordon asked delegates. “Well, that’s the problem. We need to show people what nurses really do. Nurses are there to save your life, not be nice. Nurses save pain and suffering, and they save money in the process. Nurses are there to rescue you, to rescue you from illness and from the risks and consequences from treatment of illness, which is sometimes worse than illness itself. Registered nurses prevent complications. They prevent things from happening.” Gordon challenged delegates to think about the whole notion of prevention. “What happens when you prevent a UTI, or a coronary embolism, or you prevent a fall?” asked Gordon. “What happens when you prevent something is nothing. You can’t see prevention. When you prevent something, nothing happens because you did something to make that nothing happen. “
Every nurse should read this!
Health Care & Tort Reform
I just saw a lawsuit ad for Pradaxa (a prescription blood thinner). It says if you experienced internal bleeding or a hemorrhagic stroke, you should sue them. I understand it's just business but these commercials irritate me. We can't have healthcare reform until we have tort reform!
This patient was positive for flu. After a hard battle he died this am. Our first flu fatality this season. MICU is getting hammered this holiday season it’s just crazy busy.
Thank you Mr President
I just listened to the President read each child's name aloud to audible cries in the audience, it can't have been an easy memorial speech to give. My heart breaks all over again for their families friends community and for all of us in the US, we all have been deeply affected by this tragedy. I have never owned a gun or shot a gun but I have many friends who do. It's wrong to tar them with the same brush as this mentally sick young man. There must have been signs of his illness, signs that we must get better at recognizing. In this country our mental health care is grossly underfunded. We send our mentally ill out on to the streets for lack of beds or staff to care for them. We failed Adam Lanza and his mother Nancy because we didn't see or care about their isolation or their pain. We can paint him as a monster and blame his mother for being a gun lover. The fact is he was a very isolated mentally sick young man and his mother was not equipped to handle him or help him. In Newtown Conn. they payed dearly for that. We can blame the guns and it's fair to say there are far too many but that's not the real problem in the US.
About NURSES: Somebody asked: “You’re a nurse?!? That’s cool, I wanted to do that when I was a kid. How much do you make?” The nurse replied: “HOW MUCH DO I MAKE?” I can make holding your hand seem like the most important thing in the world when you’re scared. I can make your child breathe when they stop. I can help your father survive a heart attack. I can make myself get up at 5AM to make sure your mother has the medicine she needs to live. I work all day to save the lives of strangers. I make my family wait for dinner until I know your family member is taken care of. I make myself skip lunch so that I can make sure that everything I did for your wife today is charted. I make myself work weekends and holidays because people don’t just get sick Monday thru Friday. Today, I might save your life. How much do I make? All I know is, I make a difference. Re-post not only if you are a nurse or you love a nurse, but most importantly, reblog this if you respect our work.♥♥♥
AMEN
