Medicine In America

Not sure I have much to add to this recent controversy . The statement made by Washington state senator Maureen Walsh is at its best inaccurate, at its worst insulting. Entering the hospital as a third year medical student over 25 years ago, it did not take long to realize how essential nurses are to the outcomes of patients, and how unbelievably hard their job is. And it is only become harder. Patients are more complex, shifts are longer, charting is unreasonably demanding, and stress levels are unmeasurable. Combine this with a recent rise in hospital work-place violence (who is on the front lines there, you think?) and it is clear that nursing is anything but an easy profession. As a critical care physician, I am fortunate to spend more time with nurses than most physicians, as we are shoulder to shoulder with them during procedures, codes, and intubations. We share in our commitment to the patient, and we share in the trauma, grief and joy in the unpredictable nature of our jobs. However, as a physician I get to walk away often during my day while the nurses are there throughout, at the bedside tirelessly working for whatever the patient may need. They will go hours without using the bathroom, often eating ‘lunch’ at 4pm when their shift started at 7am, and staying hours beyond their shift to finish what is often useless EHR-demanded documentation. Senator Walsh’s statement is uninformed, ignorant and a betrayal to the true frontline heroes of the American medical system.