mercenary nursing

I think I know why nurses never seem to do as well as the others. By 'others' I mean school teachers, firemen, and policemen.

Reason 1. It's a female dominated profession and women have traditionally been screwed over by men ever since time began. Even in today's modern western world, women genererally are paid less than men.

Reason 2. People who become nurses are generally very caring people. I've known quite a number of nurses who said they would never push for a pay rise because that would mean the hospital would go broke and the community would suffer if it was forced to close.

Simply put, nurses will never earn as much as their other public service coleagues.

So what am I going to do about it?

Well, I'm trying not work in a hospital. This is a shame as it's one of the most rewarding types of nursing, you know, directly helping those most in need. But other jobs outside the hospital, in the private sector, pay better. It's a shame, because working for the rich is really quite degrading at times. They don't ask, they demand. They don't say 'Thank-you' because they are paying you for a service and don't see why they should say Thank-you for something they've paid for.

I could say more, but I'm sounding too bitter. I do care, but maybe I care more for the poor and needy. Is that so wrong?

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The abuse continues

To the Health Center

'I am stunned at how negligent your medical care is. My son was seen three times and not once did you take him seriously'

The rest of the letter was just further complaining about how terrible we school nurses are, although one line did stand out:

'Am I to assume the reason you are a school nurse is because no genuine medical establishment would have you...'

I made a grab for the phone but my colleagues were too quick. 'No you don't, no rage writing' admonished Sheila 'You'll only make things worse.'

I didn't really see how things could be worse. None of my colleagues had at any stage seen the patient in question and the medical records backed us up. Either the child or the parent was blatantly lying. The most likely scenario is that the teenager had an accident while on holiday and they want the school's insurance to cover the costs.

"Fine. I won't call him. In fact I won't even bother with any kind of reply." Sheila was happy to write a reply. She's a natural diplomat. Her letter began with 'I'm sorry...' I left the room in disgust.

I'm not a politician and even if I were, sometimes some people need to be told the truth and told that their behavior is unacceptable.

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Desperation setting in.

Three years and thousands of hours later, and no one wants to publish my book.
The book consists of 300 hundred pages of hilarious, shocking, and sometimes disturbing content from my experiences working in different medical settings in three different countries.

I guess no-one is interested in this topic, although it's a shame because similar books that have been published in the past have all been best-sellers. I have considered the possibility that publishers just print the words 'best-seller' on all their books just to push up sales.

What's even more frustrating is that the last publisher to turn me down said my work was 'well written' and 'very entertaining'. His reason for turning it down was that the company had never published a book of this genre before and with the current economic climate they weren't willing to take a risk with a new author in an untested area.

I phoned him up to ask if what he wrote were true. 'I don't make claims I don't mean' were the publishers words. I was rather heartened by those words. He then went on to advise me to contact bigger publishers as he felt sure someone would take on my work.

Hasn't happened yet. Still trying, but getting desperate.

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Why I want to give up nursing, Part III

0600hrs - Wake up. Get to work 0645hrs. Fifteen minutes early. Hope to check some personal emails, get some fruit for breakfast.

0645hrs - First patient outside health center. Teenagers never get out of bed early. Must be quite sick. See student straight away. Delay breakfast.

0700hrs - First patient resting in bed. Two more students arrive. Again early. Look miserable.

1715 - Brief window to get breakfast. Spend five minutes in cafetaria. Wandering teaches waltz's by. Teacher complains that kids are waiting to be seen and I'm eating breakfast.

0720 - Ignore teacher. Am used to 5 minute breakfast and am seeing next wave of students.

0750 - First bell has gone. This is supposedly the signal to begin class, but instead 15-20 teenagers flood health center.

0900hrs - Finished with kids. Now have two denist appoinments and three doctor appointments. Colleague takes care of this while I rush to classroom upstairs where student has fainted.

1000hrs - Faint turns out to be vasovagal, nothing to worry about. Called to something more exciting. A chemical splash in students eye. Rush to go there, but no car available. The school has taken then second nurse car away. Has been ongoing problem since school expanded campus to include a building twenty minutes walk away up a mountain, but 3-5 minutes by car.

1020hrs - Finally get car and get to child. Taken to doctor. Fortunately student going to be ok.

1100hrs - Lunch clinic begins, colleague back in time to deal with this. Unfortunately ran out of beds in the health center at some stage and have ten kids scattered around campus in their own rooms. Next hour spent checking up on them.

1200hrs - Try to get lunch, but staff complaing that the health center at the new building is not staffed. Race to get there to see the critically ill students with their nasal congestion.

1330hrs - Finally finish clinic and join colleague at main campus to catch up/swat notes and find out what is going on.

1335hrs - Interupted by phone call. Abusive parents claiming we've neglected their child and left them suffering in their room deathly ill.

1340hrs - Track down deathly ill child. Is in bed with laptop, busy typing away. Claims to be sick, but I already know that a big assingment is due today. Student busy working on this. Student claims to be 'dizzy'. Sick of hearing this. Tell student that 'it's ok. I don't think you'll pass out lying down.'

1400hrs - Back in health center. Check emails. The abusive parent has sent an equally abusive email, even after I'd phoned them from students bedside to let them know their child is fine.

1530hrs - Supposed to finish work. But have four kids to take to doctor. Finish day at 1700hrs.

1700hrs - Home at last. Phone rings. Called to see sprainged ankle.

1730hrs - Phone rings again. Another angry parent.

1730 - 2000hrs - End up seeing multiple kids. Nothing urgent, but when I'm on scence, they make the most of it.

2010hrs - home at last.

0300hrs - Phone rings. Student, not sick, wrong number. Can't get back to sleep.

0600hrs - Get up for another day at work.

No one says please. No one says thank you. No one buys chocolates. Might go work in a hospital again.

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Why I want to give up nursing, Part II

"I'm not going anywhere near someone with swine flu" said a teacher at the back of the room.
"Me neither. I'm a teacher, not a nurse. That's your job" said another.

"Well, we're a boading school. If we get a lot of people with the flu, we're going to need help. Two nurses can't look after everyone."

"I never signed up for this" said the first voice. The voice belonged to Jason, one of the few 'old hands' at our school. "It's not in my contract" he added. The seventy odd teachers assembled there muttered their agreement.

"I'm not asking you all to do medical things. We need help getting them meals. Dropping off medicines. Helping arrange rooms to isolate new cases. We may ask you to check the odd temperature here or there, but we can't do it all."

"I'm not going anywhere near anyone" said Marie, the head of the english department. "Like Jason said, it's not in my contract. It's your job. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is." All heads were nodding in agreement.

'Well, it's not in my contract to look after staff' I felt like saying. 'I don't have to take you to appointments, or arrange appointments. I don't have to give you advice. I don't have to see your children. I don't have to tell you how to deal with that STD. I don't have to do any of the things I am happy to do whenever you come and see me.'

I didn't say this. I tried to be diplomatic. I failed.

In the corridor after the meeting.

"I'm not a nurse. They need to do their job."
"If they don't like it, change jobs."
"They never come and see the kids when we call them. What do they do all day?"

I wasn't supposed to hear this. But I did.

It's not the first time.

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Why I want to give up nursing, Part I

"I want my son to be tested for swine flu" said Mrs Smith.
"Ah, but your son hasn't been ill" I replied.
"He's had a cough, you saw him in the health center earlier in the week" countered Mrs Smith.
"I'm sorry, but he hasn't been back to see us. We did send all parents an email explaining the criteria for isolating students. We also explained we can only test according to government guidelines."
"I want my son tested. Then he can be treated sooner"
"I understand..."
"I don't care what you understand. You're not listening to me. I want my son tested"
"I'm sorry...."
"You're not sorry. You don't care. I'm a mother ten thousand miles away worried about her son."
"I understand...
"You don't understand. You're rude, obnoxious, uncaring..."

I turned the phone off.
I saw her son later that night. He seemed pretty well with his girl friend on one arm and a burning cigarette in the other.

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