I know my rant on this one will strike some chords with a few of you. And that's ok. Again, its a rant. Some of it based on fact, some of it based on feelings. 

(Statement below was taken from an article found online.  No, I didn't correctly cite my source.)

 Senator states that nurses “probably play cards for a considerable amount of the day” in amending rest breaks bill- Mathew Keller, JD BSN RN, WSNA Director of Nursing Practice and Health Policy Apr 18, 2019

Washington Senator Maureen Walsh (R) made what has been called "one of the most demeaning statements on the nursing profession", since Joy Behar ("The View") suggested in 2015 that only doctors used stethoscopes.  

On April 16, 2019, Sen. Walsh was commenting on SHB 1155, a bill eliminating loopholes in mandatory overtime.  "I understand helping with employees and aking sure that 'we'  have rest breaks and things like that.....By putting these mandates on a critical access hospital that literally serves a handful of individuals, I would submit to you that those nurses probably do get breaks.  They probably play cards for a considerable amount of the day".

Given that she defines a critical access hospital as one with 25 or fewer beds in rural areas with small populations, perhaps the nurses there need more to do?  Then why CAN'T they have mandatory breaks and NO mandatory overtime? She was really pushing for an exemption from the bill, which WOULD almost force overtime. 

Matthew Keller, WSNA's director of nursing practice and health policy, in a recent blog, wrote "They are taking care of your neighbors, your family, Your community. With all due respect, Sen. Walsh, perhaps it's time for you to put down the cards and pick up the literature".

This comment caused a firestorm backlash, proliferating across social media platforms.  Some spammed the senator's facebook page with hash tags such as #dontmesswithnurses.  More wrote on Twitter, for instance, with a comment that ended "..you have kicked a beehive, madam".  Others highlighted the tough reality of the job.

One part of the article I read on this subject made me chuckle.  Sentator Walsh put forth an amendment to the statement that would prohibit nurses from working longer than 8 hours in a 24 hour period citing, "Well if we have an issue with nurses getting tired, let's quit letting them do 12-hour shifts". However, at the very beginning of her apology, Senator Walsh used THIS excuse, "I was tired, and in the heat of argument on the Senate floor, I said some things about nurses that were taken out of context..."

Here is MY rant.  Ready?

In support of my fellow nurses, we DO work our asses off.  And we ARE tired.  But, perhaps unlike Sen. Walsh should do, we keep on.  Shift after shift.  To do what we were called to do.  I wonder if Ms. Walsh was called to be a senator.

But the comment was taken WAY out of context.  In reality she was talking about the nurses in small rural areas that have few patients.  So what's wrong with overtime and taking an uninterruptd lunch break?  They probably DO sit down, and between moments of action and charting, they pick up their cell phone, and .... play cards .... or Candy Crush .... or Disney whatever-its-called.  And scroll facebook, pay their bills, shop on Amazon, and even watch YouTube and Netflix videos.  

Guess what?  Small hospital or not.  You will rarely walk through a nursing unit and not catch at least ONE staff member focusing on their cell phone.  Nurses, aides, lab staff, even doctors.  Yes, we all do it. 

Yes, I said it.  Yes, Senator, many of us DO have some kind of alternate mental stimulation.  And I don't agree with it.  Our watches now even have the ability to communicate with the social world.  

When I first graduated from nursing school in 2006, the technology we were using in the home health/hospice field were pagers and Blackberries.  We werent to use them for personal use.  So we had a third device.  Our personal phones.  Not much you could do on them except text, call and sometimes read email. So using our electronic devices was really no big deal.  I think MapQuest was our GPS but we had to print directions to be able to see where we were going, as that app didn't talk to us like it does today.

After leaving the home health/hospice field, I dove right in to a small, rural hospital.  Much like the one the senator was referring to.  Most nights, on the medical floor, there were two nurses.  One RN and one LPN, unless it was a really busy time. 

Although there was not always alot of work to be done, there is almost always something to do.  Night shift or day shift. Phones are banned by policy from nursing stations and patient care areas.  Night shift or day shift. Anyone walking through the units again is likely to spot a staff member on their phone on a non-work related task. 

Again, I am not immune to this reality.  Sometimes our brains work so fast we jump from task to task, and this is a bit of a relaxation method.  Or is it.  Several times, while I was in a long term toxic relationship, the guy would want to pick fights with me over minute things.  Because I was at work and couldn't really fight back.  So I put my phone in my locker.  Where it's supposed to be.  There were times, I admit, where I really missed it.  But you know what?  My patient care doubled.  My attention to detail improved greatly.  My patients seemed happier.  Why?  Because I was focused more on them than the sorry SOB that wanted to pick his battles at the wrong time.  I loved it because by the time the night was over, I'd received some sorry apology because he had a chance to vent.  Didn't make things better, but calmer.  There were so many "that's it, I'm done, we are finished" messages, and one day, I made that happen. 

There was a time, however that I would get irritated with the newer nurses.  The 20-30 something nurses who'd graduated less than a handful of years ago.  While this hospital was not considered large, it was not considered a "critical access" hospital.  We were nearly ALWAYS full, and nearly ALWAYS busy.  At least I was.  It seemed that as soon as most of the other nurses were finished passing their medications to their patients, they were done with their jobs.  They'd all congregate at the main nursing station, instead of outside of their various pods - in case a patient needed help, to prevent falls, to answer the call lights faster.  Those of us that did pay extra attention to patients needs often asked each other why we must be super slow or... since the other girls/guys could just sit around.  Playing cards.  Candy Crush. Farmville.  Even each other's hair.  Once I complained that a patient's IV pump was alarming for over an hour.  I got in trouble for ignoring patient safety.  Wasn't my patient.  I would even go in the room and push the call light (i made sure the patient was ok first) to make the nurse have to go in the room.  they often didn't.  Plenty of times I and other hard working nurses fixed the problem.  Sometimes those nurses were outside, together, taking smoke breaks.  I know one in particular that was taking "sex with a doctor" breaks.  But falls happened.  Patients coded.  Rapid responses were called.  And a few times I clearly remember asking "where is the charge nurse (or whom ever needed to tend to this patient".  I was asked why I didn't run my complaint up the chain of command.  Because many times, that supervisor was hanging out on the unit involved with the chit chat.  Yet I was scolded.  When I presented proof, the nurses were also scolded but were informed about who was the "snitch".  That really impacted my relationship with my once friendly coworkers.  My locker was vandalized.  My car was vandalized.  I received messages about snitches getting stitches.  Sadly, the only ones really impacted by this and their true laziness (besides me being hurt) was the patient.  Many times I would be talking to scared patients.  Feeding hungry patients.  Changing beds on wet patients.  Heck, even painting the toes of some very old and sweet women.  What the hell?  We had cameras.   We had required rounding that was monitored either electronically or by signing a piece of paper in the patients room. Yeah, that was a joke.  I remember one afternoon a patient died, and no one took the rounding sheet out of the patients room.  If the rounding sheet was signed like it was supposed to be, it would mean that the guy was in his room, unmonitored for approx. 6 hours.  Now I am hoping that wasn't the case, but as we learned in nursing school about documentation, "if it wasn't documented, it wasn't done". I hope this was an expected death and not one that the state would want to get involved in.

I think what I am trying to say (and by the way I am writing this while I am at work, on the night shift, in the behavioral health unit.  My task of passing morning medications is coming up soon, but we have adequate staff to care for patients and we are doing what we call "team nursing".  My job tonight is medications/charts/crash cart, etc.) was said very well by a coworker of mine.  As long as our work is done, we can do some things.  Like this.  But to watch videos, play games, and talk all night long can easily be compared to playing cards.  Did I mention that one night, at the hospital I was mentioning earlier, that one night, after the "nurses playing cards" comment was made, I found the staff of one entire ortho/surgery unit in the breakroom.  Playing cards.

So bring on your mandatory overtime.  The pay would be out of this world.  And uninterrupted meals....how much can you actually scarf down in 30 minutes?  Many times, I'm sorry to say Former Senator Walsh, the care of your family member, neighbor or friend trumps any lunch break we might need.  I'd like to ask for a full hour of uninterrupted alone time.  In a fancy or at least comfortable break room.  Right now, ours has a tiny table, two chairs (there are at least 10 people working a shift), a giant fridge, a few lockers, dirty garbage, a sink and a microwave.  Who wants to spend 30 minutes in there?  Every time the door opens, whomever is sitting at the table has to move.  And we worry about being tired?  Bring on a deck of cards. I'll play with you at 3am.