Roses are Red, California is Blue
Well, I don't know if I'd want to use this all in my own home! Actually, it is referring to an antiseptic solution. But what an odd photo...
First of all, it isn't an operating room, no one is scrubbed.
Apparently the doctor requires three registered nurses to get the job done (no comment....).
No one is wearing gloves.
The patient doesn't appear to need sedation, but is unable to bend her arm at the elbow to facilitate bandaging. Notice that the nurse is holding both the elbow and the wrist, but the doctor seems to have tucked the patient's hand against his ribs. Must be one hell of a heavy arm!
A sterile field is set up along side the bed, but Nurse-on- the -left is holding the instrument in her fingers.
I have no clue what Nurse #3 is trying to get out of that cupboard, but it is awfully high. OSHA would have a fit!
Is that male head above the nurse on the right, the reflection of the photographer in a mirror?
We won't mention the light directly on the patient's face.
I live in the great state of California, in the totally crazy San Francisco Bay Area. Been here all my life. I'm a red-state soul awash in a sea of blue-state liberalism. Everyone feeds on their hatred of "Ahnold". People actually believe Karl Rove tells President Bush to cause hurricanes- on purpose! We re-elect representatives and senators that have contests over who can sound the most idiotic. We'll take the protection of the Armed Services but you had better not try to recruit in the City. Peace and Love, dude! We can't give your daughter a Tylenol without your permission, but we can give her an abortion without you knowing. Our borders are so porous anyone and everyone can come on down illegally. Ooops, my bad.....I believe when you come into this country against the law you are now called an "undocumented worker". But hey, no worries, you don't have to be "documented" to get food stamps, health care, schooling, maybe a driver's license and they are talking about free college educations! Best of all you don't have to learn English! There are neighborhoods where you can't find a single billboard in English! Even the Kellogg's cereal boxes in my local Safeway are bilingual. The San Francisco Bay Area isn't a melting pot, it's a box of See's Candy, all nougats and nuts....
But when I walk through the door of my emergency department, none of the above matters.
I leave my politics at home.
I couldn't care less tell if a person is legal, illegal, documented, undocumented, insured, or uninsured. If you are sick you can walk into any ER in this country and obtain care. If you can't speak English, we'll find a translator to help you communicate. We'll do our best to refer you to a physician fluent in your language. If you can't pay we will give you a referral to our financial counselor for help in payment arrangements and give you referrals to low cost clinics for your follow up. If possible, we will give you discharge instructions in your native language.
Nursing is blind to ethnic, political or economic considerations. We deliver nursing care centered on our patient, respectful of their culture and with respect given to them as a human being. Every patient.
Oh, and that box of See's Candy? I'm the section with the four, thin crunchy strips that are usually in the upper left hand side. Yes....it's true....I'm a nougat.
posted by Kim @ 11/17/2005 01:35:00 AM
10 comments
10 Comments:
Oooh, you must be living in my brain. I just wrote a paper on the very subject of illegal immigrants. Living in Miami, we have the very same situation here.
But, as a student nurse, I give everyone the same treatment, because, when you are in my care you are my patient. Period. Regardless of your life outside the hospital doors. All of that is for others to worry about, my job is to get you well.
W. :)
p.s. It is the highlight of my morning blog reading to read yours.
Kim, you make me sympathetic to conservative politics. Believe me, that is a compliment. Oh, and I still love your blog!
Thanks Wendy and Punchberry! : )
Oooh, See's candy! My kid brought me some after a trip to CA some years ago and I still remember it!
Hey, I thought See's was nationwide! I have the one pound nut/chews box memorized!
I wish I had more time to read your blog! (maybe after December and we have a school break.) Good stuff. My ethics teacher would be proud of you.
On the other hand, when I found out that Mr. Arnold was trying to dissolve the law about patient ratios, I began to hope that he might become a patient and live under his own law. Of course in his case, he could afford to hire private duty nurses.
Very cool entry, although I have no idea what "See's" are.
Down here in Texas we have a very similar situation.
I have the same politics and the same ethical views.
They are trying to make Spanish mandatory for the Nursing program. I took it for my Liberal arts elective although I'm not sure how knowing how to order a hamburger in Spanish is going to help me too much in the hospital. There needs to be a medical Spanish class.
In any case, despite my education, Me Hablo poquito Espanol y muy Malo.
I doubt that even made sense, but I try.
Sometimes I wish I had paid more attention in Mr Benavide's Spanish class, but fluency in that language wouldn't be any more useful here than a working knowledge of Arabic, Bosnian, Polish, Ukrainian, or a handful of other languages.
I guess it would be too much to expect immigrants to pick up enough English to allow them to act as their own advocates.
Great post... Wish I could try some See's candy. I am a candy freak which is an other reason for me to stick with my morning workout! :)
Ah, another See's afficiando. Have you ever taken it up to the next level and made up your own box containing just your favorites? California brittle, rum nougat, Bordeaux, peanut crunch, raspberry truffle...
Haven't done it in a long time, though, as much by the fact that I need to lose weight and it's gotten progressively more and more expensive (but what hasn't).
A box of See's candy always brings up memories of holidays, birthdays, and other special occasions. And then there's the red satin heart-shaped box on Valentine's Day...Dad always gave my two sisters and I our own box. Haven't received one since Dad died in 1984. Now I'm getting maudlin, sorry! Guess it's that time of year.
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