For reasons beyond reason, the current administration has decided that Nursing is no longer to be classified as a Profession. And, unfortunately, they are serious!
Removing this “professional” designation for nursing is an insane, totally unwarranted and misguided slap in the face to the millions of women and men in the United States who occupy nursing positions in hospitals, nursing homes and private practice medical offices. Not only does this back-stabbing denigrate these dedicated, hardworking and frequently over-worked individuals, it insults their efforts as they strive to keep us healthy. It also reduces the value of their lengthy commitment to their training and education, as well as those whose knowledge and devotion propelled them to reach their hard-won goal of becoming nurses. Sadly, nurses have been disrespected and undervalued for far too long!
Where would we be without nurses?
For one, the medical profession as a whole would grind to a halt. With as much training as doctors have, they rarely have the time or impetus to do the work they demand of their nurses. In fact, it’s a sure bet that there are many doctors who couldn’t do half the work of today’s nurses. Doctors are frequently unfamiliar with how to operate, calibrate, and actually use the technology that they expect their nursing staff to be fully functional with. Whether due to time constraints or lack of interest, doctors pass off duties to nurses that they do not want to perform. And I’m not referring to the cleaning of bed pans, which today are mostly managed by far less trained nursing assistants.
Nurses collect information from patients like their health histories, ask detailed questions to understand patient concerns and what they are experiencing, confirming symptoms, and relaying that information – often translated into medical terms – to the doctors so they are better prepared to help the patients with their individual needs. Nurses safely administer vaccines with more knowledge and understanding than those non-nurses at your local pharmacy (not to be interpreted as a put-down of trained pharmacists and related associates).
Can’t get to your doctor’s office? There are far more companies and individuals providing visiting nurse services for home health care than there are doctors who still make house calls.
Those fortunate individuals who have never been sick a day in their lives have no real understanding of the value nurses provide to our health care systems. Yet, it’s quite possible that these same people are healthy because of the unrecognized contributions and participation nurses have had in their health care!
Designating nursing as not a legitimate profession will cause many who are thinking about pursuing a career in nursing to consider other vocations. This will in turn cause even more nursing staffing shortages, which are already at an all-time high.
Other unanswered questions:
Will this change in designation cause those who hire nurses to reduce pay, using this new classification as an excuse to further devalue their contribution?
What will be the actual ramifications in day-to-day health care operations?
Will the number of work hours be impacted?
Will there be a change to the functions nurses will be allowed or expected to perform?
This blunder of a decision on the part of the current administration will hopefully be rectified in the not-too-distant future. But for now, those who are in the profession need to stay the course, and continue to do the best they can for all concerned. I’m not sure what, if any, recourse nurses have on a grand scale to correct this problem sooner.
Should there be a national strike by all nurses who all stop work at the same time to prove the point of their value? Would that wake up the current administration to the error of their ways? Sadly, doubtful.
Around the country, nurses already strike for better pay and working conditions within their own communities and healthcare systems. On this smaller, more localized scale, this may be somewhat effective for those issues. But correcting this obnoxious, unintelligent move will only happen with a new, wiser administration; one with empathy and understanding of the important role nurses play in our individual and collective health care. I hope it happens sooner than later because this really is serious!
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Wishing you and yours the Happiest and Healthiest of Holidays and the New Year to come.
Peace!