yesterday was my first day back as a nurse...here's what I found.

[w8liftinglady]

it was such a joy to get back in the groove with my patients.

I took care of five telemetry patents.Of them,three were below the age of 50.
All three were full time workers.
None had insurance.
All were there because of disease processes that could have been avoided with medication access and preventative care.
All had children visit them,wives wringing their hands.
All of them.
None fell into the "uninsured" mantra the right likes to broadcast-"lazy,illegal".

none.

What have we as a nation become?


(P.S.-thank you all for getting me here.Your support is the best gift someone could have gotten)

[unhappycamper]

1. Glad to see you back in the saddle again, w8liftinglady.

:thumbsup: :hi:

[w8liftinglady]

3. Thank you,bud!

I owe a lot of it to you!

p.s.-I was also able to get info to someone with a kid in iraq and afghanistan.How crazy is that??There are NO fucking jobs here,despite what you hear from my governor

[molly77]

35. It isn't just our health care system.

What kind of nation gives antibiotics and steroids to cattle and then the medical profession is alarmed that so many antibiotics have been taken and just about stops prescribing them.(not admitting they were taken in by way of steaks)

Sometimes I think the medical profession has a playbook like republicans. About ten years ago, pediatricians did not want to give antibiotics unless a child's temp. was over 102. My sister in law was 56, been given double doses of radiation for lung cancer..her esophagus was fried. The doctors said it was cutting edge..the high doses of radiation. The TV news said the insurance companies were balking at the number of visits for treatment...so the drs. just doubled the dose.

After developing a horrible infection at the beach, my brother drove her to Duke Hospital in Durham. She had a staph infection . It was about a week before she got an antibiotic. The physician's assistant who prescribed them said she would get into trouble. My sister in law died. Once she quit breathing on the medical floor at Duke and it was about 20 minutes before that was noticed.Then she was taken to ICU and left in the hall. Nobody knew where she came from or how she got there. Duke was rated about #4 in top US hospitals at the time.They kept a lot of lawyers due to the number of lawsuits brought against them. My sister in law had good health insurance.

The health profession and corporations seem like they work together in America.It is all about money.

[mudplanet]

44. Physicians should be physicians and not entrepreneurs and businessmen

[saigon68]

49. Hey that's the Repuke american dream

Pass the Dom Perrignon

[madokie]

2. I'm happy for you

I'm also really really very happy for your patients. My wife is a nurse and you girls and guys are something special. :hi:
rec

[old mark]

4. The US health care "system" is worse than it has been in decades...

due to politics! It is just amazing to me that people rely on politicians to regulate the health care that is available to us all.

I worked in a state run mental hospital for years in various jobs, and I'm glad to be out of it, but it is one of the best things I have ever done in my life as far as helping others and feeling good about what I was doing.

Congratulations on your return...You may have had support, but YOU did the work and deserve the credit, and I KNOW from my own experience how difficult it can be.

All the best!

mark

[tavalon]

9. The word "system" in conjunction with healthcare is likely to cause me to laugh

in a manner that is both derisive and slightly demented. There is no system. Baling wire and chewing gum and it isn't sticking.

[old mark]

14. I agree - I just use it out of convention. Whatever it is we have, it is certainly not

a "system"...


mark

[eilen]

20. It is not necessarily a system, but it is a machine. nt

[MedicalAdmin]

54. A "system" is a word that implies a cohesive whole.

At best what America has is a patchwork or bandaids and wishful thinking.

Canada has a system. We have chaos.


An interesting point. I run a small medical practice that decided to stop billing insurance a few years back. Most health care professionals practice what we have dubbed "insurance"'medicine. It is where medical decisions are made in anticipation of what the insurance companies will allow and NOT in what is in the best interest of the patient.

And we are the only industrialized that does this.

Another advantage of our not billing insurance is that we are able to charge significantly less for the same service. On average there are 3 billing specialist employed for every 1 doctor. Tell me again how "efficient" private companies are again?

[tavalon]

63. Yeah, I hear you

[The Straight Story]

5. Awesome, glad you are back to work!

And indeed - what have we become as a nation?

[lunatica]

6. This is great news for you and your patients!

[Sanity Claws]

7. Glad to hear that you are back at work

I saw a few of your postings about your own medical challenges.

Thanks for telling us firsthand what you are seeing. Keep those reports coming.
An idea just came to me. Does anyone think it would be helpful to blog about what is actually happening in medical care? Perhaps have nurses, doctors or other medical personnel post anonymously in a blog about what they are seeing? The idea is to create a source outside the control of the corporate media.

[tavalon]

10. It would have to be damn anonymous

While almost all of us are fastidious about HIPPA rules, the PTB withing the "system" do not care to have such first hand accounts out there.

[bobbolink]

16. Yes, blowing a whistle must be done with great care.

While I am always grateful to whistleblowers, I know that they usually not only suffer, but suffer greatly.

Ironically, I have been thinking a lot lately about the whistle-blowing doc who worked for the insurance racket, and finally had enough because of the death of a patient, and started talking back. For some reason, I can't remember her name, but she has my admiration.

I don't know how the rest of you put up with it!

[tavalon]

29. I've been a whistleblower three times in my career

Only once was I targeted and I knew I would be so I tendered my resignation.

[MedicalAdmin]

55. WikiMed?

A place for doctors and nurses to post redacted info about what the insurance companies, hmo's, and hospital corps are doing?

That is a freaking great idea. Just make sure the servers have encrypted mirrors and gauss kill switches for if anyone messes with them physically. Oh, and it goes without saying that they will need to be hosted outside the USA.

[eilen]

21. Our facility has a very strict internet/social website policy. nt.

[MedicalAdmin]

57. Don't be daft dear, as my sainted mom used to say to me.

We aren't talking about posting on facebook for work. We are talking about an anomized posting from another location on your own time.

[eilen]

71. One cannot access social websites at work

If you post anything about a patient or the hospital, on your own time, there are consequences. I don't ever reveal where I work.

[MedicalAdmin]

73. I understand your point but I think this would be More like case study.

One can talk generally about pts without revealing any identifying demographics especially if it is posted anon. so that the source cannot be revealed.

I think the point of the OP, that loud whooshing noise you heard a while back, was that such a site to reveal abuses by the system, especially insurance, would be helpful to many but especially patients.

The fine points of hippa aside, can you agree with that even if you would not participate in such for your own reasons ?

[eilen]

75. I'd love an anonymous whistle blower site and

I wish we had more of a European system where cost and effectiveness of therapies are weighed instead of how great the sales pitch from the pharm company.

[MedicalAdmin]

76. Imagine a site where every shady practice could come to light.

Doctors could post about sleezy pharma company pitches that are clearly a violation of ethics. Clerks could post about kickbacks. Nurses could post about administrators decisions that lead to death. ER personel could tell it like it is. And everyone could dish dirt on the insurance companies (the devils own corporations).


Just imagine.

[w8liftinglady]

81. that is actually a great idea.I think we would see a decrease in both

cost and malpractice.

[tavalon]

8. Welcome back to the profession that for many of us is a calling

It could be said that I could wring most of managements collective necks but the bedside nursing rocks, even on the really awful days (maybe not in the moment....). I'm glad you've been able to return.

[OwnedByFerrets]

11. What has our nation become?

A nation of debtors who have had the spirit whipped out of us by our corporate masters. We, as a populous, are exactly where they want us. To deep in debt to rise up and fight for our rights and too damned tired OR complacent to care any longer.

[w8liftinglady]

12. looking in these peoples' eyes.I see something reminiscent of the depression

http://johnedwinmason.typepad.com/.a/6a0112791cb10528a401310f7bfa12970c-500wi

[mwooldri]

13. I tried to talk my sister into coming over here to work as a RN.

Fully qualified in the UK, specialized in Intensive Care.

She will never work here because she states she will never work in a country where hospitals turn away patients for having no insurance.

That was her perception. This was also a conversation back in 1999/early 2000.

We both know that hospitals are required to take in patients and "stabilize". However that's not good enough for my sister. She much rather would work under the NHS.

Mark.

[spinbaby]

15. I was recently told by a surgeon...

...that December is his busiest time of year as everyone rushes to get their surgery in on this year's deductible.

[sweetapogee]

17. question?

Are you working in a hospital setting or other?

Glad to hear you are back. As I like to say "providing excellent patient care".

[w8liftinglady]

18. I am in a small-town hospital in Red Hell.

The people polled have not endured this kind of suffering.

I care about all of my patients.I hope they know that.

[sweetapogee]

19. I'm

certain that they appreciate your efforts.

I run EMS as a volley EMT on my days off. In January I will be a paid part time EMT weekends. The area is fairly busy. I'm taking this year (2011) to decide if I will go to paramedic school or nursing to become an RN. This time next year I'm one way or another hitting the books. This would be a second career for me and I would continue at my present occupation if I were to go the medic route and just work part time at it. I can also take the money I make from PT EMT work and pay off medic school without using family funds.

My real passion is either pre-hospital or ED trauma. What are your opinions on this?

[AllyCat]

33. I was trying to make the same decision 8 years ago. chose RN

I love my job and feel much as OP does. I'm in a different field (OB/NICU) but see lots of people on state aid or no insurance at all. Most are WORKING. These are not losers who do nothing all day. These are working folks. Some are probably illegal immigrants (I don't know, I don't ask. Not my job to ask). Some are teenagers. But the majority of them are people who just can't make enough to afford a place to live, food on the table, clothes, and a car and then have something left over to pay thousands on crummy insurance.

yet I've been told by some neocons that I just need to open my eyes to how these people live and I'd know they are all gaming the system.

:mad:

[w8liftinglady]

39. I hear the same thing...especially regarding your patients

The "Caring Xtians" are so "Pro-life" ...until the baby is born...then screw them both,lazy welfare queens(an actual statement made by a local in "fun")

[FailureToCommunicate]

42. Thank you for being in that field!

We had twins 27 weeks premature (boys) It was a real emotional roller coaster for the 3 months they were in the NICU but thanks to EVERY wonderful NICU nurse (and maybe a few doctors) they -and we- did fine.
Insurance helped, but it the 'angels in blue' that carried us thru.

Thank you, and congrats for getting back in.

[AllyCat]

47. Congratulations on your babies! Glad to hear they are well!

[FailureToCommunicate]

68. Thanks! Reunions at the NICU have been jubilant.

They are teenagers now, but seldom do we miss whispering a little thank you to the skilled and heart-wise medical helpers from those early difficult months.

[sweetapogee]

69. thanks

in the pre-hospital setting we generally have the patient for less than an hour but during that time we get a feel for their insurance status. I hate to say it but in my experience those without insurance tend to make a big show of their aliments for the sake of the neighbors, they call for a 911 ambulance ride to the ER for a paper cut, while those better off financially are waiting at the door hoping that the neighbors don't know the ambulance was at their home. But all I care about is providing professional emergency health care to those requesting it and let the billing office worry about collecting.

My understanding with regard to HCR as presently configured the IRS will collect the patients insurance premium payment before the patient get his/her paycheck so that will kill that puke talking point???

But back to my question, thanks for the advice and I think going the RN route is a better choice in the long run. I'm 52 years old and have a BS degree so an RN is probably going to be easier for me than someone right out of HS. What I'm looking for is an alternate plan B back-up job possibility. I really want something that is intense and fast paced. Thanks

[GrannyK]

22. Good News!

And thanks for doing what you do. I've been spending too much time in hospitals and doctors offices in the last few years. So I feel qualified to state: A compassionate nurse is essential to healing. You've added a bonus: An informed nurse.

[w8liftinglady]

23. that is really sweet.It's fun taking care of folks like you...

:hug:

[OneGrassRoot]

24. Thank you for sharing your first day back with us...

Even though it's so depressing, at least you're there to provide genuine compassion. They are fortunate after all.

:hug: :hug: :hug:

[Vinca]

25. Great to hear you're back at it!

I hate to be a dim bulb, but what's telemetry?

[w8liftinglady]

26. patients on heart monitors-usually with chest pain...or

due to any number of reasons-funny thing-NONE of mine were cardiac in nature(all were REALLY sick,though)

[femrap]

27. Our nation

is becoming a 3rd World Nation. We are witnessing The Decline of the American Empire. The multi-national corporations rule. War is the only thing we export.

It's over.

I just hope Assisted Suicide becomes legal in more states than Oregon.

[defendandprotect]

28. Elites decided the time was ripe for fascism ... global fascism ....

people didn't change, anywhere --

Elites are willing to be violent and to do violence to own it all --

That doesn't mean working for anything -- it means taking control of government --

it's wealth, natural resources -- its population!

[PBS Poll-435]

30. Thank you, w8liftinglady!

:loveya:

[IsrealBissel]

31. Wonderful and inspiring post!

[avaistheone1]

32. We are nation who is compelled to

give tax breaks to the richest among us who have absolutely no need for such breaks, transferring wealth to them from the poor.

[Liberal_in_LA]

34. congrats on your first day back at work

[davidwparker]

36. Congrats!

[malaise]

37. I'm so happy for you

:grouphug:

[BanzaiBonnie]

38. But my dad told me...

that if people are sick they can get treated at the ER. I was extremely distressed to hear this from a man I know as intelligent and caring. He's been inhaling fumes from Faux.

[SheilaT]

41. In a literal sense your dad is correct.

People can get treated at the ER. But they only need to be kept and treated until they are stable, and then, if there's no insurance, they're released. Of course they're advised to get follow up, but people with now way to pay for it just don't do that. So they have inconsistent care, don't get the meds or preventative care they (everyone) should have. And then they're blamed for the condition they're in.

I used to do out-patient registration at the local hospital. This was just last year, and it made me more and more radical every day, more and more convinced we need to have Medicare for all, or a genuine National Health System.

[MedicalAdmin]

58. There's hope. My formerly rw father is Moving in the other direction

[midnight]

40. K&R

[Dystopian]

43. Warm thoughts to you....

w8liftinglady:hug:
Happy that you're back at work...
Saddened that you're dealing with all that is wrong with the system...
But thankful that they have you for their nurse.
Heart of Gold.

You make a difference in this world...in so many ways.


peace~

[OmahaBlueDog]

45. We've become Scrooge

Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?

[bertman]

46. Glad you're back at work. Thanks for posting this. We need reminders. Rec. nt

[madrchsod]

48. good to hear you are back to work...

nurses are my personal angels...but not when they wake me up every 2 hours in the night to make sure i`m alive!

[earcandle]

50. Congrats! I am happy to hear they were able to get these monitoring devices without ins!

Did the government provide?  City, State or Fed?  
Are they expensive, I wonder. 

Or non-profit donate them?  

Or the corp itself gave them away? 

Inquiring minds would love to know.

[brer cat]

52. Our hospital paid for the initial equipment

Brer Cat's sister here, retired RN. The cost of the units per patient is mainly the patches on the chest that are attached to the telemetry unit. The information is transmitted to a central monitor where a nurse or tech is watching all the patients on telemetry. There is additional costs of 9 volt batteries but these sometimes last for several patients. The cost of the nurse or tech is spread out over all the patients being monitored, so this varies depending on how many patients are being monitored.

[earcandle]

79. oh thank you for the information. sounds like it is working.

[libmom74]

51. That is

the dirty little secret that most of us that work in health care know but that never gets reported by our "liberal" MSM. Many of the uninsured people that I have seen are small business owners who can't afford the exorbitant costs that are charged by the insurance companies that are much higher for them than for larger corporations.

[Grinchie]

53. Try to guess who delivered this speech at the General Motors plant in Janesville, Wisconsin 2/13/08

Who wouldn't vote for a candidate that spoke like this? Well, unfortunately we were bamboozled.

Never again, and the Powers That Be see the angry mob storming up the mountain road, sweeping the guards of the edge of the cliff as they steamroll right through them.



"It’s a Washington where George Bush hands out billions in tax cuts year after year to the biggest corporations and the wealthiest few who don’t need them and don’t ask for them – tax breaks that are mortgaging our children’s future on a mountain of debt; tax breaks that could’ve gone into the pockets of the working families who needed them most.

It’s a Washington where decades of trade deals like NAFTA and China have been signed with plenty of protections for corporations and their profits, but none for our environment or our workers who’ve seen factories shut their doors and millions of jobs disappear; workers whose right to organize and unionize has been under assault for the last eight years.

It’s a Washington where politicians like John McCain and Hillary Clinton voted for a war in Iraq that should’ve never been authorized and never been waged – a war that is costing us thousands of precious lives and billions of dollars a week that could’ve been used to rebuild crumbling schools and bridges; roads and buildings; that could’ve been invested in job training and child care; in making health care affordable or putting college within reach.

And it’s a Washington that has thrown open its doors to lobbyists and special interests who’ve riddled our tax code with loopholes that let corporations avoid paying their taxes while you’re paying more. They’ve been allowed to write an energy policy that’s keeping us addicted to oil when there are families choosing between gas and groceries. They’ve used money and influence to kill health care reform at a time when half of all bankruptcies are caused by medical bills, and then they’ve rigged our bankruptcy laws to make it harder to climb out of debt. They don’t represent ordinary Americans, they don’t fund my campaign, and they won’t drown out the voices of working families when I am President.

This is what’s been happening in Washington at a time when we have greater income disparity in this country than we’ve seen since the first year of the Great Depression. At a time when some CEOs are making more in a day than the average workers makes in a year. When the typical family income has dropped by $1,000 over the last seven years. When wages are flat, jobs are moving overseas, and we’ve never paid more for health care, or energy, or college. It’s a time when we’ve never saved less – barely $400 for the average family last year – and never owed more – an average of $8,000 per family. And it’s a time when one in eight Americans now lives in abject poverty right here in the richest nation on Earth.

At a time like this, it’s no wonder that the mortgage crisis was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The equity that people own in their homes is often their largest source of savings, and as millions upon millions have seen those savings and their home equity decline or disappear altogether, so have their dreams for a better future.

I realize that politicians come before you every election saying that they’ll change all this. They lay out big plans and hold events with workers just like this one, because it’s popular to do and it’s easy to make promises in the heat of a campaign.

But how many times have you been disappointed when everyone goes back to Washington and nothing changes? Because the lobbyists just write another check. Or because politicians start worrying about how they’ll win the next election instead of why they should. Because they’re focused on who’s up and who’s down instead of who matters – the worker who just lost his pension; the family that just put up the For Sale sign; the young woman who gets three hours of sleep a night because she works the late shift after a full day of college and still can’t afford her sister’s medicine.

These are the Americans who need real change – the kind of change that’s about more than switching the party in the White House. They need a change in our politics – a leader who can end the division in Washington so we can stop talking about our challenges and start solving them; who doesn’t defend lobbyists as part of the system, but sees them as part of the problem; who will carry your voices and your hopes into the White House every single day for the next four years. And that is the kind of President I want to be."

Can't guess? It's none other than our current President, Mr. Afganistan, Mr. Monsanto back in the USDA, Mr. Telecomm Immunity, Mr. Exted Tax Cuts for the Wealthy.

I am not so weak as to fear change such as this administration is. I don't think that many Americans are too afraid of change either, yet we are denied day after day, and nothing changes.

The reason we did not get the Public Option is because they didn't want us to have it.

[MedicalAdmin]

59. Next election remember the defining characteristic of a politician.

If there lips are moving, they are lying.

We hoped for and needed a Nelson Mandella. Mandella once was told early in his time in office to not waste his policial capital supporting an unpopular stance and he replied " the day I let that detire me from doing what is right is the day I am not fit to hold the office of president."

[Grinchie]

70. It's very apparent in the mood change here at DU that the Majority has awoken.

The cheerleaders have disappeared into the shadows for the most part, and avid supporters are now perfoming real analysis now that the Honeymoon period is over, and their loved one has turned into a mean drunk, instead of the fun-loving yet sensitive and caring individual they were originally enamoured with.

Many here at DU are very emotional, and it clouds their judgement dramatically. In the past, I have learned that emotion has nothing to do with real analysis, which by definition, predominantly yields facts or more questions.

When one actually realizes whats going on, thats when emotions such as anger are warranted, but not before.

The final straw for me was the appointament of Michael Taylor, The opening of the Tongass National Wilderness in Alaska to Clearcutting, the Abdication of FISA, NAFTA, Hillary Clinton as SecState, and the general Clinton: The Sequel aspect of this administration.

If one looks at Clinton, one finds that he put into place the politicization of the DOJ, and then GW ran with it. Now we see the same being used in this administration, so I see no change. I see status quo, and it no longer is a question of Democrat or Republican. They are old school labels that have no meaning in todays Government which reveals its fascist leaning almost on a daily basis.

Since this thread is about health care, I would like to add my two cents regarding Health in general. I honestly believe that we are capable of directing our health in many cases by focusing our internal energies through meditation and thought. Our Medical and Social structure drum into us that we "Need" a doctor to keep us healthy, when the fact of the matter is that we are inherantly healthy and very strong organisms. As ex military, I was trained in survival techniques in case of being lost in the wild. One of the techiques to survive in the forest, where monkeys are present, is to watch what they eat, then scarf out after you chase them off.

This leads to the question of the animals living in the wild. Left untouched, they are generally very healthy, without the benefit of some learned doctor telling them what to eat, how to give birth, what pills to take, etc. etc. Unfortunately, we have pulluted or destroyed much of their habitat, and they fall ill.

Why is it that Humans think they no longer possess these basic skills?

The fact is that we do. We just have to listen to our bodies and when we run into difficulty, focus our energies appropriately. Accidental injury is another matter entirely, and this should be covered for free at all times. Generaly, this is the only time we really need healthcare, as long as we remain healthy.

Unfortunately, with our glorification of science and synthetic materials, we unwillingly are poisoning ourselves daily from the food, air and water, mostly in urban enviroments, and over time we are overwhelmed and get sick. It is our body telling us it's unhappy, but the current state of the art is to obscure the warning signs with drugs and get back to work while ignoring the cause. Many times, the side effects of the drugs are worse than the complaint.

This is wrong. Working 9 to 5 is wrong, especially if you are not up to it on a particular day. You are not productive anyway, so why force it and risk ill health?

Corporations demand this as part of Productivity, but in reality, YOU are the one paying the price if you get sick.

I don't believe in Productivity anymore. I believe in Quality, as it pays off in the long run, where productivity just increases the number of faulty products that need to be fixed later. This applies to the Medical Industry as well.

[MedicalAdmin]

74. Off topic reply..

Given your healthy philosophy of health, you should find a naturopathic physician if you ever need a doctor. I think you wl find their philosophy very simmer to your own..

Great reply btw.

[Grinchie]

77. I use both on occasions, but only Allopaths that know what nutrition is.

We have great technicians when it comes to fixing broken bones, but atrocious preventative medicine for the long term downward spiral.

[MedicalAdmin]

80. Um, both? I'm confused.

[Richard Steele]

56. K&R

[reggie the dog]

60. i was born in 1979

and i grew up in a nation in which we are supposed to pay for all of our own services or go without. when i arrived in france i had no idea what a welfare state or health care as a right were.... i honestly do not imagine ever moving back to the usa even though the woman i left the usa for and followed to france has divorced me. i would rather be alone in france than in the usa with my family and friends because life is so much more highly valued over here in france

[w8liftinglady]

62. many of the nurses I work with come from other countries

Great Britain,India,Germany and The Phillipines...where some system of National health care exists.They are aghast when discovering some patients become sick and/or die because they CAN'T get a life-saving medication.
Family practice docs have my respect and sympathy.They give every single sample they have to these patients.It kills them to see the patients do without.
Some of the docs have been doing this for decades.There used to be a time when an uninsured person could afford the basics...like meds.Now it is a billion dollar enterprise.

[spicegal]

61. The GOP plan: if you get sick, die. Why don't

right wingers understand that, it's not only the individual that pays a heavy price for not having healthcare coverage? It hurts the entire country on many levels, and this is but one example. Imagine the stress on those individuals, lost productivity, and ultimately someone else will have to pay the bill. What's wrong with this country

[PhillySane]

64. Did the Nazis have a Public Option?

The answer is yes. However, medicine, like everything else, became perverted under the regime. Which is basically what is going on today in America under the current regime. Health insurers are allowed to decide who gets care and who doesn't. Much of Europe, which witnessed the Nazi atrocities firsthand, has public healthcare, no exceptions. If you don't do that, you risk turning into Nazis.

[LWolf]

65. We have become something dreadful.

A nation that pats itself on the back for being "#1," while taking pride in the degradation of its citizens.

[PhillySane]

66. Number 1 in what?

Have you checked the ratings lately?

[w8liftinglady]

67. well,my state is #1 in the uninsured

[LWolf]

72. "We're # 1" isn't reality based. I don't think it ever was. nt

[w8liftinglady]

78. Oy-my second day back to work..."Some people choose to be uninsured"

...a co-worker said.

"Do you really think 8 million choose it in Texas?"
I said

as I tried to find help for two of my patients with no insurance who would need treatment and meds after discharge.

It's gonna be a challenge to remain "sweet"