This is not my normal fare, but every once in a while a story goes by that needs to be spread further afield than it would normally be. Plus, without any hyperbole, seeing as I owe my freaking life to a whole buncha nurses at the Royal Alexandria Hospital and one in my home (seriously, I would NOT be here to write this if not for them) this story hits me hard, so … please read on, and if it hits you too, spread the story … because, well, nurses fucking rock. Period.
TUMWATER, Wash. — The Tumwater UPS says they received 667 packages of playing cards Tuesday addressed to state Senator Maureen Walsh (R-Walla Walla), who came under fire when she opposed a bill mandating uninterrupted lunch breaks and rest periods for hospital nurses.
Walsh said last week, “I would submit to you those nurses probably do get breaks…they probably play cards for a considerable amount of the day.”
The playing cards arrived after an apparent open letter to Walsh circulated on social media.
The letter included a photo of Walsh with her mailing address saying “send me a deck of cards!”
The letter:
This is an open letter to Senator Maureen Walsh –
Dear Senator Walsh,
You said that not all nurses deserve breaks as they just sit around playing cards while on shift anyway.
I don’t know any nurses who play cards, Senator Walsh. I know nurses who care for babies who were born with their spines on the outside of their bodies and brains that won’t stop bleeding. I know nurses who hold infants that can’t stop crying because they were born addicted to heroin and meth amphetamines.
I know nurses who roll those same babies down to the morgue when they finally do stop crying. Do you think that’s where they play cards, Senator Walsh?
I know nurses who care for patients that no one else cares about – the homeless, the forgotten and even the psychotic with the same dedication they would show a celebrity…or a Senator.
I know nurses who can go all night without food or a bathroom break. I know nurses with nerve damage and back pain from doing whatever it takes to take care of patients. I know nurses who cry in their cars. Do you think that’s where they play cards, Senator Walsh?
I know nurses who are hard as steel when delivering life saving treatment to dying patients and softer than a whisper when delivering the news that it didn’t work to the family. Do you think they all play cards together after that, Senator Walsh?
I know one nurse who is asleep in the next room right now after her second 12 hour shift of the holiday weekend. She left her shoes outside because she didn’t want to bring all the blood and bile that she walked through last night into our home. I wish she could leave everything else from the hospital outside that easy. She can’t. It stays with her.
Sometimes she doesn’t want to talk about it. Sometimes she can’t wait to talk about it.
Sometimes she laughs until she cries and sometimes she just cries but, regardless of those sometimes, she’ll be on time for her next shift.
She doesn’t play cards either Senator Walsh – but I do. That’s how I made my living once upon a time before I met a nurse who changed my life. You and I have that in common. Nurses are going to change your life too.
You’ll find out how right after the next election cycle. You’ll have plenty of time to play cards and plenty of cards to play with yourself then.
Sincerely,
One of the millions of people who love a nurse
I would like to add myself to any list that supports these amazing men and women. They are under-paid, over-worked, under appreciated and will always be in my heart. Any human being that will stop at 3:45 in the morning to tend to the often difficult and traumatic needs of another human being, after working a 12 hour shift, and smiles at that patient to cheer them up as they leave, deserves a fucking trophy in this guy’s book. Just sayin’ … also, some serious raises for ALL who take care of others would be nice …
WTFville Chronicle 