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Nurse, Advocate
January 7, 2017 --
Nurses are not known for being articulate. Other skills are more
relevant to the job. In nursing school, my writing skills were not
recognized nor, indeed, of much use in nursing work. Instead, what
is respected is competence and, most of all, expertise. The downside
is that competent and expert nurses sometimes do not express
themselves well.
Nurses are wonderful advocates for patients but poor ones for
themselves. The following brief treatise in defense of nurses
(especially in light of strikes and other conflicts with management)
is the words nurses might not find to speak or write but nonetheless
feel in their hearts. Here is an attempt to say what often is not
said.
�I have a lifetime of experience doing this work, and every day on
the job I give it all to my patients. They get everything I�ve got
and that�s a lot.�
�The hospital wants to haggle over things like PTO (paid time off)
and other benefits. No amount of PTO is equal to the genuine caring
and � let�s say it! � life and health my patients get from me. It�s
not something money can buy.�
�Given how much my extraordinary hard work and commitment
contributes to (and sometimes saves) the lives of others, my own
life outside of work should be trouble-free, to the extent that a
paycheck and benefits package can provide. To haggle over
compensation for something that is so precious and given so
limitlessly demeans us all. It denigrates the priceless thing our
patients seek when they come to us.�
It has been said, "Physician, heal thine self." To this we add,
"Nurse, advocate for thine self!"
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