President Obama Gives a Shout-Out to Nurses.
Posted by realityrounds on March 27, 2009
As noted in a previous post (The Incredible, Invisible Nurse), I discussed how nursing is often absent in any and all media coverage of health care. We are the pointless individuals in medical TV shows, who hand doctors stuff, are mostly mute, and roll our eyes at the nurses’ station. Rarely are our opinions asked regarding anything to do with health care. (Thank God for blogs).
So, when the leader of the free world gave a shout- out to nurses in his first on- line town hall meeting, I almost pissed in my scrubs. Oh come on, like you have never almost peed yourself on one of those 12 hour shifts with no break. President Barack Obama took a question from a nurse regarding nursing representation in health care reform. Nurse Linda was unfortunately a little bit too fawning and star struck in her presentation, but at least she brought nursing to the forefront of the national media. Here is their exchange:
Q My name is Linda Bock and I’m a registered nurse just in Prince George’s County, Maryland — been there 34 years at a free senior health center. And I’m here with my fellow nurses from SEIU. First of all, thank you for listening to us, because as nurses we do listen to our patients all the time. We’re their advocate. And so we appreciate this opportunity for you to hear from us.
One of the things we want to make sure is that nurses are represented in the health care forum committees — reform committees because we want to be there on behalf of our fellow nurses and on behalf of the patients that we sometimes have to speak up for. So I really hope that we can be there so we can push the things like prevention and education that are so very important so that we don’t use our emergency rooms for their doctor visits and that we have more community-based health centers for those that are in need. And I just — I really appreciate this opportunity to be heard.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I appreciate that. I guarantee you nurses were part of the health care summit, and they will be at the table in all these discussions. I’m biased toward nurses, I just like nurses — (laughter). When Michelle and I went in and Malia was being born, the OB/GYNE was a close friend of ours and so was much more attentive than the usual OB/GYNE might be. But the fact is, we only saw her for like 15 minutes. The rest of the time, it was nurses who were doing everything. When Sasha, our little precious pea — (laughter) — she got meningitis when she was three months old — very dangerous. The doctors did a terrific job, but, frankly, it was the nurses that were there with us when she had to get a spinal tap, and all sorts of things that were just bringing me to tears.
And we’ve got a problem in this country, which is we have a shortage of nurses — makes no sense, given this unemployment rate. But the reason is, is because the pay of nurses, the hours of nurses, the quality of life of nurses, the fact that nurse professors are even worse paid than the nurses themselves, so that you get these huge bottlenecks in terms of training as many nurses as we want.
All these issues are part of the inefficiency of the health care system that has to be fixed. And the more we’re emphasizing primary care, preventive care, wellness — all of which will save us money in the long term — the more that we can deploy nurses as the troops on the front lines in ultimately driving down some of these health care costs.
So I think it’s very important that nurses are a part of this process.
(For full transcript, click here:Â NY Times)
Again, the interaction to me seemed a little bit staged, with the mention of the union to the presidential butt-kissing approach to the question. (What the hell was her question anyway?). But, this is all besides the point. It was so refreshing to see the importance of nursing mentioned on the national stage. Regardless of your politics, I am hoping nurses were thinking, finally!
I am glad that President Obama is “biased” towards nursing, because I sure am. It is about time someone in power is. Maybe it takes a person who has actually had to deal with multiple hospitalizations to realize what the heck it is that nurses really do. Nurses are anything but invisible in the hospital setting. As the president pointed out, it was nursing who helped his wife bring a child into the world, and it was nursing that was present at the bedside, supporting his family during a medical emergency.
Put your call lights on and answer me this:Â If you had the opportunity, what would you have asked the president regarding nursing/health care at the town hall meeting?
RR
Ben said
Nice post. Still can’t believe we have a president who knows how to speak in office.
I would ask the president why my health insurance rates increased 40% in one year? (never sick, get preventative health care, non-smoker, not-overweight, etc).
Nurse Gloria said
Does he understand how a single payer health care system such as proposed by Conyers in HR 676 would stimulate the economy? Also, the nurses who were forced into early retirement due to having documented work related injuries will be employable again.
Nurses would no longer be “at higher risk of insurance claims” due to work related injuries and age over 40 years in a system where health insurance is no longer tied to employment. Empoyers could return to the practice of hiring based on merit rather than based on a potential employee’s risk of insurance claims. Does the President know that?
mamamia said
I too, am partial to nurses. They may have taken a back seat in medi-dramas on TV, but anyone who has spent any time in the hospital knows that it is the nurses who take care of the patient. It is the nurses who help you out of bed, are there when your sick child cries in the middle of the night , are the ones who make sure you understand all the Docter’s “gobbledy gook” as to your meds and aftercare. What 3 LPN’s are paid for round the clock care of many patients, a patholigist will make almost 3x’s that. Sure, Docters are vital, but let’s give our nurses a “shout out” and a little more respect.
realityrounds said
Can I get an “Amen”!
RN-ish said
It’s about time nurses get some lovin’ from the national spot light. I would ask the president about fair wages and working hours for all health care professionals. Some exposure of what nurses do day in and day out would be great. I think the general public would be shocked at how much we do.
Nurse Gloria said
RN-Ish; I agree with you concerning exposure about what we do and what our responsibilities are. But I want more than “lovin’ from the national spot light. I want job security, fair wages, health care, pension, reasonable nurse/patient ratios, and lobbyists to go to bat for nurses as issues arise that affect patient care and working conditions. Nurses cannot truly be professionals without all these things.
Nurse K said
If you haven’t heard, Obama’s “town hall” meetings are staged and the people at the meeting are his supporters.
realityrounds said
I think all town hall meeting are staged. I don’t know if you followed the presidential debates, but that “town hall” debate was ridiculous. I wonder how I can scam my why into one of these town halls?
Nurse K said
They need to call it something else then. Town Hall implies an open forum where people can air dirty laundry about govt, etc. Without the teleprompter, Obama falters, so it has to be staged.
RN-ish said
How pathetic that people focus on the teleprompter to criticize the president. What a juvenile point. To get back on point to the original post, I am happy the president expressed positive views on nursing. Staged or not, I really do not care. It is easy for Reality Rounds and Nurse K to criticize, hiding behind their computers. At least the nurse at the town hall meeting had the guts to question the president in public.
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Eileen said
would ask the President how we can get more money into promoting one of our most needed fields of healchare…nursing. How can we put money into of and education of nurses as (unlike physicians whereby you are looking at a minimum of 6 years in order to become a Family Practitioner: 4 years medical school – 2 years residency) there is such a broad range of levels each with an integral need. There are 2-year programs, 4-year programs, upwards to the doctorate level. Yet no matter what level chosen, the return to the public is priceless.
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