Nurses have a tendency to compartmentalize...
Kimberly Overton, BSN, RN
Nurses have a tendency to compartmentalize, I understand this well. It’s a coping mechanism, and due to the high stress nature of our jobs, it is often times a necessary one. I’ve always been somewhat fascinated by the mind’s ability to subconsciously do so.
I have observed just about every nurse out there complaining about how completely broken our current healthcare system is. I stand in 100% agreement. We are acutely aware that it has been this way for decades, centuries even. For evidence of that, consider this quote:
By this I do not mean that the nurse is always to blame. Bad sanitary, bad architectural, and bad administrative arrangements often make it impossible to nurse.
Florence Nightingale - Notes on Nursing, 1859
Nurses constantly talk about how unsafe this system is for both patients and staff alike. We are keenly aware that despite the scripted narrative we are instructed to herald for all to hear, that these hospital systems place profits over patients, every time. All of this has proven to be true in my 25 plus years of experience working in healthcare. What is truly fascinating to me, is how some of these very same nurses will DEMAND that we all implicitly “Follow The Science” that is being touted by this same broken system. They expect that we should do this without question, debate, or discussion; blind allegiance to the narrative of a system we confess not to trust or have faith in? Is this just another example of how we compartmentalize? I do not profess to know the answer to this question, but I think it is a theory worthy of consideration.
I’ve listened as fellow nurses have attempted to ridicule and shame me, nurses that will try to make me feel as though I am somehow “less than” because I don’t subscribe to the same nonsensical mantra that they do.
We all have our own personal beliefs. NONE of those beliefs should follow us to the bedside or effect the care that we provide to our patients, or the way that we interact with one another. Politics have no business in healthcare. The politicization of healthcare was the absolute death of it. Let me be clear, none of the positions I hold as they relate to nursing care have anything at all to do with my political views; they have everything to do with logic, reasoning, data , and actual science.
I am very proud of the work that we do at Nurse Freedom Network. I am not ashamed, nor will I ever apologize for advocating for autonomy and true, informed consent for patients, and I will certainly never apologize for doing everything in my power to prevent unnecessary harm to children. I’m not sure exactly when these longstanding, guiding principles of ethical nursing became so controversial? I never intended to be a polarizing figure. I always want to come from a place of unity, compassion, understanding, and love.
When we consider the horrifying precedent recently set in the RaDonda Vaught case, we can clearly see the need for change. We need to make this the absolute LAST time we allow this broken and oppressive system to fail us and our patients. THIS is why we are so passionate about the work that we are doing. Beyond the advocacy, our larger vision has always been to create opportunities for nurses to be able to break away from this "sickcare" system - the very system that creates an environment conducive to medical errors and patient harm. A system that SHOULD be shouldering much of the responsibility for its poor outcomes, rather than scapegoating its nurses. This current system is unsustainable and it is unfixable. It needs to burn to the ground, and we finally need to let it! We've been putting out the flames for far too long now! We need to take our knowledge, our skills, and our passion and we need to WALK AWAY. We need to be part of building a parallel system that is going to focus on TRUE, patient-centered care and creating the solution to everything that has long been broken in healthcare.
We are working tirelessly to create these opportunities and we are here to support each and every one of you in any way that we can.
Freedom, autonomy, justice, non-maleficence, beneficence, veracity - these are not synonymous with any particular political party, any certain class, or any walk of life. They are for ALL of us. These are the guiding principles of ethical nursing, and it is our duty as nurses and our moral obligation to renew and uphold these once sacred practices.
Let this be the dawn of a new era in nursing; one where we are able to cultivate our OWN environment, where nurses and patients alike are able to THRIVE.
I agree wholeheartedly!
Thank you very much for speaking out for compassionate constitutional freedom loving nurses who want to provide true scientific healthful healing care to the people they serve and thus themselves.