9 Months to birthing my BESTSELLER!: You Gotta Be Sh*ting Me!

The October 13, 2008 issue of Newsweek (with Sarah Palin's BIG FACE on the cover) has an advertisement page entitled, "A Conversation with Nursing Expert Rebecca M. Patton." This nursing "expert" is the president of the American Nurses Association (ANA) which claims to represent 2.9 million registered nurses (is that 2.9 million with or without the steady exodus?).

Ms. Patton answered a number of questions relative to nursing. Her answer to the question "Why is there a shortage of nurses?" follows:

Her Answer:

"Part of the reason there is a shortage is we now have this huge group of baby boomer - age nurses who are retiring. But I think the work environment is the biggest reason for this shortage. Nursing is a physically demanding job. The average staff nurse, in an eight-hour shift, moves 1.8 tons. That's a lot of weight to move around. What's frustrating is that there are solutions to this problem- portable lifts, for example,have existed for years, yet hospitals here in the United States have not purchased them. Think about it this way: When you go to Home Depot, you don't see a worker picking up a 100-pound bag of concrete. The store uses equipment to do that. Yet nurses, by themselves, move 100-pound patients all the time."

I emailed Newsweek a response to Ms. Patton's nursing shortage answer:

For Ms. Patton, as the president of the American Nurses Association (ANA) to have a national audience (Newsweek) and then state that the nursing shortage is due in part to weight lifting demands is irresponsible, idiotic, and one of the reasons the ANA does not represent me as a registered nurse. This type of head in the sand embarrassing commentary from so-called nursing leaders or “experts” is exactly why nursing is not progressing forward and the practice is being eroded.

Ms.Patton did get part of the reason for the shortage correct ... the work environment. Sexism in some hospital settings, overall gender-pay disparities, verbal and physical abuse by doctors, colleagues and patients, hospitals that have adopted a business model thereby commodifying disease and the patient, Magnet Status hospitals that for lack of a better word - suck, patient safety issues that are ignored in lieu of the hospitals bottom line thereby compromising patient health and in some cases causing the deaths of patients are the real reasons.

The National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) a national professional nurses union actively advocates for nurses, the practice and art of nursing, patient rights (ratios, single-payer universal health insurance) and nurse wages. Nurses are the vanguards of patient advocacy. Experienced nurses are exceptional deliverers of health-care and promoters of preventive health-care.

The political and professional activism and advocacy efforts of the NNOC continually progress the practice of nursing and the work environment into the twenty-first century, as well as being staunch champions for patient rights. Equally important is the collective bargaining power of the NNOC in making significant gains against gender pay disparities and their concerted efforts in wage and salary gains for good experienced nurses.

With nursing experts and nursing leaders offering misguided commentary and distanced perspectives, the nursing shortage will continue unabated.

BTW: I was terminated from my position of twenty-six years as a RN on the open heart/heart transplant team at Cleveland Clinic, in January 2008. Why? Because I wrote a book, Notes From the Mothership The Naked Invisibles.

My memoir offered some insider insight into the sometimes feudal working environments of nurses as well as defining and explaining what we as perioperative nurses actually do. My comments are not a diatribe against the Clinic. Rather, I simply wish for this institution to live up fully to it's legacy of forward thinking, and it's promise and potential to be a first-class, twenty-first century working environment for professional nurses.

My book is a collage of my life experiences. My twenty-six years as a open heart/heart transplant surgical nurse form a part of the holistic collage of who and what I am. I did not violate HIPPA nor breach patient confidentiality within my book.

I did chose to speak up (something nurses do not do publicly). In voicing my opinions I may have been perceived by Cleveland Clinic as interfering with their juggernaut branding and marketing efforts in stating some truths within that culture of impunity.

But then, really, what is a patient and nurse advocate to do? (End)

Here is a small sampling of the national response from nurses (and others) that I continually receive:

“I am a Junior in High School. I knew this would be the perfect topic for me to write about. Not only because I think what they did to you was totally unfair, but because I want to be a nurse in the future.” ---High School Journalism student

“I am so glad that this is getting attention. It is so unfair that you lost your job (although it shows how powerful your writing is!) There are a lot of people who support you!” --Cheryl Toman, Professor, Program Faculty in Women’s Studies, Case Western Reserve University

“I just want to say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for taking a stand. We experienced nurses out here are dying!! You GO GIRL! God Bless You, Adrienne!! I have never met you Adrienne, but I am so proud of you. I will be praying for you daily. I wish you could come down here and sit on my porch and drink some sweet tea.” --Rhonda, South Carolina

Adrienne,
"I read your book and feel like we're friends. I might have been in the OR with you. I spent some months at CCF when I was a pharmacy student. I stood on a stool and observed a CABG. I am from Cleveland, although I'm from the West Side.
Your book makes me want to take myself less seriously and figure out how/when I lost my creativity. I am an oncology pharmacist. But I don't want that to define me. I have artistic interests which I never make time for. I'm only 30 but I am much older. I'm hosting a book club and suggested your book after hearing you on NPR. I'm so glad I did."
Jenni, Baltimore, MD

Adrienne,
"I just finished your book and quite enjoyed it. It was liking drinking a nice cup of coffee from the local coffee shop (one of my favorite things to do!) It made me laugh but also gave me reason to look within myself. It made me realize that working at CCF has shaped me in many more ways than simply my anesthesia practice. I'm glad I'm not the only one who got more out of the world-renowned yet wonderfully dysfunctional institution known as the Cleveland Clinic. If you can make it there you can make it anywhere!!!
I wish I could start a nursing school without all the tired, old professors that perpetuate the need to be subservient. We do work in tandem with physicians, pharmacists, social workers, therapists etc... I want to change the way that nurses are taught. But right now my family does come first.” --- Nebraska

Dear Adrienne,
"May I say how much I admire you! I have been a nurse for 16 years, and in that time was also married to a doc....ACK! What I learned from 'behind the scenes' was simply amazing. I write a blog about my life in chronic pain. I also am working on my Memoir, which revolves around my life events. I find I must be very careful if I write a post about a 'work day'. I can't imagine what you have been through just for being courageous and honest. The medical world has always enticed me, yet if I knew now....."  Shauna :-)

“I have the utmost respect for this nurse having the courage to speak out. Many don’t have the courage to speak out due to the Clinic’s strong influences and reputation. Each member of the health care team is an important piece. You go girl!” --RN

“I think it is crucial for new students to see what they can be when they graduate and you are a wonderful example of this.” --Tiffany Mushrush Mentzer, Ursuline College, Director of Alumnae Relations, Ohio

“I loved your story!!!!!!!! Me and about 10 other nurses here at the University (of Michigan). You have made an impression!!! Thank you for being the voice, having the courage, and the perseverance to get a message of feminine strength out into the universe.” --Michigan

“I wish I had the courage to be as honest as you have been, courageous enough to expose myself so that others might gain some insight into themselves the way you have. You are a very real person that I not only admire, I respect.” --RN

“Your honesty is unbelievable. Your writings have caused me to view my life, my career and my person in a whole new way. Writing ‘Notes’ took courage.” --RN

“I want to congratulate you on your book. It’s wonderful. Beautiful cover and even more beautiful inside. My best to you.” --Judy Carter, Author of ‘The Comedy Bible.’ Los Angeles

I know. I know. Alright already. Oh Snap! ...

Check this out. There is a great schism occurring in nursing (I'm the last to know) as evidenced by this report in the Tuesday, October 14, 2008 online issue of ModernHealthcare.com:

Minnesota nurses group latest to leave ANA

The Minnesota Nurses Association has voted to pull its membership of 20,000 nurses out of the American Nurses Association, following six other states that have recently pulled out of the national professional organization.

Linda Slattengren, president of the Minnesota association, said the decision to pull out of ANA effective Monday was driven by member concerns that the national group was not fully supportive of organized labor. In particular, Minnesota nurses became concerned after ANA did not affiliate with the national labor union, United American Nurses, after a previous agreement expired last June. Minnesota nurses also felt the ANA did not support its legislative priorities, including disagreements on staffing legislation, Slattengren said.

Minnesota is the seventh state nurses group to withdraw membership from the ANA, following California, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan and Pennsylvania, the Minnesota association said. “I would say it’s a significant message that ANA with their latest actions is not supportive of labor,” Slattengren said. Although Minnesota nurses support ANA officials’ rights to determine their own priorities, the state group decided to stop paying nearly $1 million in annual membership dues because of its concerns.

Officials with the ANA said the Minnesota association did not follow the ANA rules requiring the state group to take a vote of at least two-thirds of its membership before it could legally withdraw from the national organization. “The American Nurses Association is disappointed to see the Minnesota Nurses Association’s plans to divide the ANA and MNA,” the organization said in a written statement. -- by Joe Carlson

http://www.modernhealthcare.com

Any wonder why the exodus after reading the nursing shortage remarks?!

Adrienne Zurub, Speaker/Author/RN

Adrienne's Amazon Blog

(if you have a problem accessing the blog, go to the author's page and click on the Z's until you get to my link)