Cards At The Nurse's Station

There are times in our lives when we open our mouths….and insert a foot. And I’ve had my moments. But I don’t recall any as bad as the one experienced by a Washington state senator last week.

In a debate concerning nurses, Senator Maureen Walsh, a Republican, intimated that nursing is not all that demanding a profession. Let me use her words exactly..

She said nurses in smaller hospitals “probably play cards for a considerable amount of the day.”

Yikes.

Understandably, a nationwide petition drive ignited with nearly 650-thousand nurses signing a petition to get the legislator to walk in their shoes for a day. And to her credit, it appears that Walsh has accepted the challenge.

For a moment, understand my background. Four of the five colleges where I spent my career had nursing programs. They were demanding and the students who aspired to be nurses were among the very best in the entire college.

I spent a week at Fairfield Memorial Hospital last fall and I am a miserable patient. I remember two nurses in particular who had to care for me while I was suffering with an infection that included a high temperature. They had a number of other patients…but their attention to me was unwavering.

There wasn’t any Canasta being played at the nurse’s station.

Walsh says she regrets her comments and looks forward to her 12-hour shift as a nurse. 

I bet the nurses who will share that shift will enjoy it even more.