As anyone who has spent any time in a hospital knows, it’s the nurses who make things work.
That said, the nursing profession is in crisis, which tends to get overlooked in discussions about the U.S. health-care system, which also is in crisis.
Many nurses are asked to work unreasonably long hours and mandatory overtime. The number of patients for whom nurses are responsible during a shift has increased dramatically. Few nurses have medical benefits. (Ironic, isn’t it.) Many nurses are burning out and leaving the profession, but not enough new nurses are being graduated to make up the deficit.
I know the paramters of the crisis better than most people. I’ve spent more time than I care to recall visiting family and friends in hospitals in recent years. A while back I had a boo-boo myself and was on the receiving end of (top-notch) nursing care for a few days.
But the biggest reason that I’m so tuned in is that I have an excellent source — the Dear Friend & Conscience, otherwise known as my companion or girlfriend.
The DF&C has been a registered nurse for 28 years. She has worked in a variety of clinical settings in several states and overseas, and is board certified in emergency and critical care. She currently works in the New York metropolitan area and is being certified to become a legal nurse consultant.
I engaged the DF&C in a Q&A on the health-care crisis with the focus on how nurses are affected.
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