Saturday, January 5, 2008

Thank-You, Nurses!

I’m back from a short hospital stay, where I was blessed with truly amazing nursing care. In a large and hectic facility I was blown away by the personal attention and so much compassion — no empathy fatigue here — from the very busy day nurses, to the OR staff (including the sainted nurse who gave up her lunch break and shooed away a replacement, to stay with me through a long procedure), to the overnight shift nurses who did their work without ever turning on a light.

These women made a rough stay easier — I would buy each of them a car and some flowers and a puppy if I could. More in keeping with the blog, I found an interesting grassroots campaign urging creation of an Office of the National Nurse. The National Nurse would complement the Surgeon General, including promoting involvement in the Medical Reserve Corps and incorporating “proven evidence-based public health education when promoting prevention.” A bill to create a National Nurse (H.R. 4903) was introduced in the House in 2006, and has been revised and is still pending.

Today’s mitzvah: Say thank-you to a hard-working nurse, and consider signing the Office of the National Nurse petition.

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