I Would Rather Be In Bed

Nurses, nurses, nurses…

I feel like every time I blink my eyes these days nurses are on the news and like, we should be, because we really are superhuman people regardless of what anyone thinks. That whole “nurses are superhero’s” that everyone is so sick of hearing and seeing is true but not in the way most people want to attribute it to.

Years ago, you didn’t even hear about nurses. We were an invisible force running hospitals, taken for granted (well, refreshing to see that hasn’t changed), underpaid (as always), and cute pictures on ads with smiling faces (still depressingly true, but trust me, not real).

Then, some asshat said we run around wearing “doctor’s stethoscopes” and we sit around playing cards and something else…honestly the list of grievances against us is so long I can’t remember all the details anymore. Suddenly, we remembered we have voices, and OH YEAH, we are sick of this shit. (Sit down, EMS, we all have our own healthcare problems, we aren’t here to compare notes. You can get on your soap box about being “ambulance drivers” later.)

Doctor helpers…pffftttt. Then we realized that after years of TV shows like “ER” and “Grey’s Anatomy” that people really have no clue what we actually do. They really believe that doctors do most of the work and we just hang out at the nurses’ station and shuffle papers around. And you know what? We aren’t ok with that anymore. And you know what else? We don’t have enough of us doing it anymore. And you know what else else? We don’t get paid enough to our job, four other people’s jobs, and then be made a joke of also. Did that change anything?

LOL

No.

This is an America ran by insurance companies and capitalism.

Non-profit hospitals? Don’t make me laugh. Ask my CEO, CFO, and CNO how many bonuses they got last year. Actually, you don’t even have to. You can look it up. They seem to be profiting quite well.

The nurses, and all other staff, who do all the patient care, which pays the bills, get one small bonus a year *if* profits allow.

But ya know, capitalism doesn’t benefit the little people. So, guess that makes sense.

Then, COVID happened.

Nurses. Were. Heroes.

For like six months.

People said that over and over and sent us food and held signs. But, our hospitals didn’t give us help. Just reusable masks and thoughts and prayers. God bless. Hope you don’t die. Don’t quit your job. Also, if you get sick, you have to use your own PTO because this clearly isn’t our problem. Good luck!!!

That hasn’t stopped us being on the news ever since though. The hardship of COVID. Vaccinations. Mandates. Travel nurses. PTSD. Staffing shortages. Mass exoduses of nurses. Hospital diversions. Future of healthcare. Unsafe working conditions. Hospital shootings. Nurse assaults. Burnout. Burnout. Burnout.

The job that would have an opening anywhere is even more of a sure thing now. Over 1.7 million nurses left bedside in 2022 alone. Over 3 million since 2020. Surveyed more than half of the nurses still working are looking for ways to leave the field.

Administrations are like AHHH WHAT CAN WE DO!!! THE PIZZA ISN’T WORKING ANYMORE!!

“Ok, ok, Margot, I offered them a pizza party last week and they didn’t even care!?!?! What do we do now?”

Margot, flabbergasted, “Perhaps, awards!! Yes, yes, AWARDS! And goal setting! Surely, they want to goal set to be better nurses!”

“OH YES! Perfect! And new pens!”

“Perfect!”

If you also just put your hand to your face so hard you just saw back into the past, I feel you.

We. Want. Help. We want to quit having to do 46 jobs. We want more money. We want safe staffing and it ENFORCED. We want to quit being blamed for administrations poor planning. We do our jobs, we work hard and are still blamed for not being fast enough, doing enough, getting it all done. We suffer an immeasurable amount of mental health damage to do this job for years on end. I can’t speak for all places, but we don’t always have great insurance either to deal with the multitude of health problems nursing causes. Not to mention the abuse we suffer at the mercy of the public. We aren’t given all the tools to be successful. Really, the fact that we deal with all that and we are still working at all, whether it’s because we have bills to pay or any other reason, is the sole reason we are superheroes.

You know what I find ultimately so sad about this whole situation? We are everywhere now. Tik tok, IG, facebook, the news, Washington, blogs, strikes, just literally everywhere, SCREAMING what we want and need to stay, to come back, instead of continuing to leave and creating a crisis in healthcare… AND NO ONE IS LISTENING. Hospitals would rather stay toxic than build a great staff that provides excellent care.

One thing is for sure. We aren’t quiet entities existing in the background anymore, and we won’t be ever again. We can either be a crisis in a few short years, or a recovery, unfortunately, we are mainlining to a crisis.