Fear or Good Judgment: You Decide
A few days after I read Kathleen Bensing's Media Watchdogs blog, an article appeared in my local newspaper. The headline read "Emergency Care Crisis."
It starts with a vivid story of a parent fearing for his daughter's life and leads into the current struggles all emergency departments are facing. It concludes with Baystate Medical Center's plan for a future hospital addition. I could not get beyond the first few paragraphs without fuming. I desperately wanted to clarify the role of the triage and head nurses. Maybe if the public understood our qualifications, they would feel more comfortable receiving a nursing assessment. They trust what we say, according to most polls, but do people really know that nursing judgment is more than just where we place you in the hallway?
Being a fan of Kathleen Bensing, I felt inspired to respond. I even started writing a letter. But in the midst of my fury, my husband, Mark, asked me if it was appropriate, being that I am an employee of Baystate Medical Center. Begrudgingly, I began to contemplate his comment. I weighed the pros and cons in my head and came to realize that I didn't really have enough leadership experience to make that kind of decision.
The next day, I turned to my manager, Ann. I had an instinctual feeling what her answer would be, but her explanation is what surprised me. She recommended I do not get involved, not because of the facility, but for myself. I'm paraphrasing, but she said that an emotional reaction to a lead-in paragraph would only open me up for more verbal attacks. Interesting point, I thought. I retorted with the importance of educating the public about what we, as nurses, do. We could eliminate a lot of the frustration the public feels when involved in health care if they understood the process of our decision making. After commenting on the great job her staff does everyday, Ann went on to point out that was not the real focus of the article. The article was really about the necessary, but controversial, expansion the hospital had planned, not the nurses. She suggested that this is not the proper platform to use at this time, smiling the whole time we conversed.
I chose to agree, but I wonder if I backed down out of fear. What could I be afraid of? First, I have a career to consider. I love my job and don't want to jeopardize my professional standing. Second, I wasn't sure I wanted to handle a barrage of comments that were sure to be spawned by any response from a nurse regarding the situation. And finally, I did not want to fall victim to the media. Ann was right; I found this when I reread the article. It was all about the new ER and what plans were in place for the future. An emotional case was used to peak the interest of the reader only. I had fallen victim to the old ‘bait and switch' tactic.
So, I began to wonder what my podium should be. I dream of some day representing nurses for the thinkers, decision-makers, and role models that we are. And then I remembered I have this blog. A culture takes generations to change, I realistically can't see myself altering the way the world views nurses by myself. But, together, with people like Kathleen Bensing, maybe I can start by changing the way we as nurses see ourselves, leading into a new way for the rest of the world to see us.