Nurses in New York


Posted On: Friday - April 24th 2020 6:43PM MST
In Topics: 
  Media Stupidity  Healthcare Stupidity  Kung Flu Stupidity

You're not gonna find a modern-day Florence Nightingale here:



Look at that scene. It's a mess, but is that because the place is truly overwhelmed or just that way due to NY City, and lots of the country now, being a disunited Tower of Babel? Is it because the cameras are rolling?

From a family member in the healthcare business, I've got the following info.:

Where she works, nurses are being assigned COVID-one-niner patients, even though those aren’t the cases usually on their floor. On another floor there are a number of cases, plus in the ICU. The problem is that the nurses really aren’t provided the PPE other than fitted masks. They are worried about even going in the rooms, and the doctors won’t show up at all and are doing everything on the phone. These patients’ rooms are getting really messy, as neither nurses nor techs want to go in there much. Without family members either, it’s VERY depressing for them. If you've ever been in there for anything longer than a night, you know that time goes at 1/10 speed for a patient in a hospital room.

In the meantime, the hospitals in NY City are offering $7,000 per week for RNs for 3 12-hour shifts per week. Housing is not paid for but arranged (yeah, I know it can be a decent amount), but food and transportation are covered. Some of the nurses are just hoping to get laid off (quitting looks bad to HR), so that they can go to NYC and make a killing. Another section of the hospital will be recalling nurses that have been furloughed, as they are planning on resuming regular surgeries and all that.

I completely understand a good program of taking extra precautions with any infectious disease. The more vulnerable nurses, older and in terrible shape (and there are plenty of the latter) ought to do their best to acquire the PPE they need, or refuse to work on the COVID patients until they have something reasonable. If one is young and healthy, how did she* not die a few times already from all the other flu viruses and bacteria flying around the rooms and hallway?

The media have got the nurses scared shitless, which is impeding the care of patients. Sure, the nurses and Docs should know something about this disease, but the real number of this Kung Flu's fatality rate does not warrant this behavior. All of us know that this is not the Black Plague, but the 2-month-long Infotainment Panic-Fest, playing on all channels, has got them acting like it is.

I've already heard back from my source that those positions in NYC have been filling quickly, but till then, I want to be a part of it ... if I can make it there, I'm immune anywhere ... 🎵


* Or "he" in this case, as there are plenty of men getting into this reasonably lucrative (for today's times) field too.

Comments:
Bill H
Saturday - April 25th 2020 10:39PM MST
PS Unfortunately, yes I've been using it for quite a few years. My O2 level before Feb has been in the 96% to 98% range. It's getting kind of weird right now. I check it six times a day or so. A few days recently I was getting 95%+ and I got one reading of 98% a few days ago. Then past couple days it's mostly back down to 91% to 93% range.

I'm still not going anywhere near a hospital. Even in normal times I won't go unless, as Mr. Anon suggests, my wife is there to advocate for me. Which she does very vigorously. Nurses, and doctors actually, quickly figure out not to mess with her.
Moderator
Saturday - April 25th 2020 7:56PM MST
PS: For Mr. Hail: That's 2 months so far, but due to viewer demand, they may make quite a few more episodes this year.
Moderator
Saturday - April 25th 2020 7:55PM MST
PS: Bill H., is that blood-O2 meter something you've used all along and seen better readings with in the past? I'm not trying to diagnose anything, but I'm hoping maybe those have been your levels for a long time(?)

Anyway, you are right about this "heroes" BS. That word is completely overused now. There's no comparison between a young nurse worried about the chance of the Kung Flu with only a tiny chance of dying from it, and those NY Firemen heading into the WTC towers on 9/11 (though I suppose they didn't know everything was coming down).

I've also worked in a field where things could go tragically wrong quick. Some of the jobs were for low pay too, but it felt great getting the job done every day.
Moderator
Saturday - April 25th 2020 7:49PM MST
PS: Yeah, I was lucky to have very good friend who was a specialist for the problem I had, right there in the hospital. Good point, Mr. Anon, with that last part, and thanks for writing in!
Hail
Saturday - April 25th 2020 1:33PM MST
PS--

"the 2-month-long Infotainment Panic-Fest"

That it would only be two months!
Bill H
Saturday - April 25th 2020 8:07AM MST
PS Two things. First is that after recovering from the Wuhan virus in February I have been left a little short of breath and with a slight but persistent dry cough. I have a long history of serious lung issues and have an oximeter, and upon checking my oxygen level I find that, while it is 98% or so once in a while, it runs 91% to 93% much of the time. I checked it right when I woke up one morning and it was 86%.

This is a little bit of a concern, and my wife wants me to call the pulmonary doctor. The Scripps medical offices are closed, however, and I would have to see him at the hospital. I have seen interviews with hospital staff, and they are functioning in a morass of panic, self pity and negativity. I am not going anywhere near those people.

Second, the media is referring to “first responders” and health care workers as “heroes,” but they don’t look heroic to me. I have not seen one of them with an attitude of, “Hey, this is what we’re here for.” They are frightened, weeping about how hard it is, complaining about lack of equipment, etc.

I served in a 20-year-old diesel submarine north of the Arctic Circle. When all went well, that service was actually kind of boring, but the old ship tended to have things break down. Not infrequently that happened in a “cascade” fashion, one breakdown leading to another, and sometimes pretty much everything went to shit.

I would not say we enjoyed those times, but we thrived on them. They energized us. This was why we were there. This was what separated the men from the boys, and by God we were men. Had anyone interviewed us we would have smiled and said, ”Yeah, this is what we do.”

I loved being part of that crew. We don’t have that kind of people any more.
Mr. Anon
Friday - April 24th 2020 11:33PM MST
PS Anyone knows that you don't want to go into a hospital without having a relative there to be your advocate. Hospital staff are at best harried and overworked, at worst lazy and indifferent. And a sick person can't always speak cogently for hisself, because he's sick, in pain, out of it.

And this advocate - the relative or loved-one - is precisely what is being denited people in these COVID-oriented hospitals. How many of the deaths are ultimately due to this?
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