As a nurse I watched the corporate takeover of medicine in this country and it is a disaster. It is all about the money. I worked with aides who were more than full time and still qualified for benefits. And I worked with people who never should have been nurses or aides to begin with. But I have worked with far more administrators (apologies to all you good people out there doing your best always as I tried to do) who have no understanding of what is needed to adequately care for ANY population (children, the elderly, the chronically ill, and now I hear Hospice is doing next to nothing these days since Hospice Houses don't make money, private/corporate Hospices don't have them and the family is expected to do Everything to the last at home. That is great for some but for many it is a terrible burden and a source of shame for both the caretaker and the patient.....Never mind Mental Health resources or places for people to detox and live in safe conditions....we are riding down the slide again (this is reminding me of the ugly scenes exposed in the 60's an 70's that prompted about a decade of progress...
shut me up I could go on forever. just women's work, anyone can do it...
Myself, I hope to either drop dead, or be able to walk off down a favorite wilderness trail...and in some places, those who get kicked, kick the next person...
There are settings in which you cannot meet the needs of your patients in a way that you feel really good about. Oh, meds, impossible to be on time when 25-30 patients are scheduled to receive multiple medications (slow, fast, crushed, floated, injected) at the very same time.(while answering the phone, setting up for an admission or return from dialysis, helping aides get folks to the toilet, meals on an unalterable schedule...
I go to med/surg and I got 3-4 patients at the most. All supplies bedside. And yet I know those nurses work hard and also suffer shortages.
And I LOVED my work, and was lucky enough to work through about a decade of amazing progress and professional growth/along with hands on work. I got to do so very much....now I am looking at volunteering...
so sorry for xmas carol ...sure she didn't ask for this ramble but I can't help posting at the moment.