Nurse Talk Blog Archive

In My Day…Safety Was YOUR responsibility | Lynn Ruth Miller

January 31st, 2012 by Lynn Ruth Miller
Lynn Ruth Miller

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In my day, safety was your responsibility. We didn’t have laws to take care of us. No seat belts or warning beeps. Either you held on, or you went through the windshield. But that was easier too, because we didn’t have double-paned glass.

When I was a kid, I could jump on my bike without worrying about helmets or shin guards. If I fell off, mama put an ice pack on my head and told me to stop complaining.

We didn’t bother with little lights on our shoes either, when we walked around at night. If someone jumped out of the bushes you just nodded and looked the other way because he was probably going to the bathroom. It was always a he. Trust me on that one.

I never thought of using mace or pepper spray to protect us. If someone scared us, we screamed and there was always a neighbor with a loaded gun. In my day, neighbors really did take care of each other. We used to give strangers at the bus stop rides and sometimes we even invited them over for dinner. But they had to eat what we gave ‘em. One guy said he was a vegan and my mother put on a mask. We didn’t know what vegan meant. It sounded like an STD. We trusted people even when they complained. I guess you had to be there.

But nowadays I dont leave my house without my lipstick, my Lipitor and my Taser.

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Send the Flowers | Alzheimer’s in the First Person | Barbara Taylor Vaughan

January 31st, 2012 by Barbara Taylor Vaughan

I have been thinking a lot about death and funerals today. Missy’s best friend’s father died, and also her first boss at her first real job after college. I listened to her order flowers for each of them, and talk to their family members on the phone last night and today. She is going to both visitations and funerals in the next couple of days.

I thought about all the funerals I have been to in my life. A lot of people now put in the paper that they request no flowers, a donation to their favorite organization. I still always send flowers…I cant help it, I just know that all of the funerals I have ever been too, or involved with, that we always went around looking at the flowers, “Oh yes, those are from so and so, aren’t they beautiful?”, or, “Look at those roses, they are from so and so…oh how the deceased loved roses.” I always think too, walking into a funeral home and seeing the flowers just makes me smile. It’s kinda like…once you are in a room full of beautiful flowers…celebrating a life, anyway. I just like flowers.

My father died on Christmas Eve, and way back then the funeral was held the day after Christmas. My father was my hero, and it was a terrible winter when he died, lots of snow, and I remember being at the funeral home and thinking, “He won’t have any flowers, because people won’t see his death notice because of the holiday. The florists were closed for the Christmas holidays…” I was so happy as I sat in the funeral home before visitation and the flowers started arriving, one florist said he was called at home to please come in to make arrangements for [my father]. Another florist told me he drove back from another city to make all the arrangements. I was thrilled to go and read all the cards on the flowers. I remember crying as I read the cards, and my mother hugging me.

So just to let you know, if you put in the paper not to send flowers…sorry, I can not grant you your wish, it’s just still one thing that I want to do for you and your family…flowers, and a card…and oh, how I love gardenias.

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Kaiser RNs One-Day Sympathy Strike to Support Other Kaiser Caregivers Today

January 31st, 2012 by California Nurses Association

Rallies Tuesday, 12 Noon, Kaiser Oakland, Kaiser South Sacramento

Kaiser Nurses Show Support of Striking Co-workers, Patients and the Community

OAKLAND—Registered nurses and nurse practitioners at Kaiser Permanente hospitals and clinics across Northern and Central California will honor the picket lines Tuesday in sympathy and solidarity with other frontline Kaiser staff who will hold a one-day strike Tuesday to protest Kaiser demands for substantial cuts in healthcare coverage, retirement benefits and inadequate staffing for mental health services.

RNs will complete final sympathy strike preparations Monday 3:30 p.m. at the Oakland headquarters of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, which represents 17,000 Kaiser RNs.

Media Availability Today:
California Nurses Association, 2000 Franklin Street, Oakland, 3:30 p.m.

Tuesday Schedule:
Picketing Begins: Tuesday, January 31, 7 a.m., Kaiser Permanente Facilities
Rallies: Tuesday, January 31, 12 Noon
Kaiser Oakland: 3801 Howe St., Oakland
Kaiser South Sacramento: 6500 Bruceville Rd., Sacramento

RNs will be supporting mental health clinicians, clinical psychologists, licensed social workers and opticians.

The nurses say they understand the concerns of their co-workers about the erosion of services that affect the quality of patient care, especially in mental health, as described in the report Care Delayed, Care Denied. It asserts that Kaiser has frequently failed to comply with California laws aimed at protecting patients’ timely access to appropriate services despite receiving more than $10 billion annually from Medicare to provide a full range of services, including mental healthcare.

“It is disappointing that Kaiser is refusing to bargain for sufficient staffing for mental health services, and a secure retirement and accessible health coverage for its frontline caregivers despite its record profits,” said Zenei Cortez, RN, CNA Co-President, who works at Kaiser South San Francisco. “We will continue to honor the basic tenets of nursing and stand in support of our colleagues, our patients, and communities.”

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