Nurse's Day

Guest Post by Terry Murphy, RN

For only the second time in 33 years, I find that I will not be on duty for Nurse’s Day or Nurse’s Week. My first missed event was in 1979, as I had shattered my left lower leg two days prior while sliding into second base. Not only was I called out, I was off duty for two months. National Nurse’s Week was a rather new recognition back then, having been proclaimed into existence by Richard M .Nixon in 1974. I do not remember missing it. I do not remember knowing about it.,We certainly were not honored by our hospitals back then, but, perhaps, they did not know about it either.

Today, as Nurse’s Week is eclipsed by Hospital Week in most healthcare organizations, the recognition that nurses receive is considered to be “balanced” by an effort to honor healthcare workers as a whole, as partners with nurses and physicians for the care they provide to patients in many different settings. With the effort to ensure that all people contributing to the continuum of patient care feel valued, I must wonder if nurses today feel somewhat “diminished” by the reduced intensity of focus on nurses during Nurse’s Week. Are other members of the healthcare team feeling more valued as a result of this shift? Is this a further step away from the legacy that Florence Nightingale left us when she slipped from her earthly bonds in 1910? What are we doing, as nurses, to sustain the focus on nursing during Nurse Week celebrations? Have we become too comfortable with the global Hospital Week “perks” (food, trinkets, drawings, contests) to celebrate the true meaning of Nurse’s Day and Nurse’s Week? Do we take this time to pause and reflect upon whether we are good stewards of the profession Florence created for us in the mid-nineteenth century?

This year, I would ask, what have YOU done for nursing lately? I ask this as I seek new employment and meet nurses all over California and hear their laments, their concerns, their quest for effective leadership and their desire for recognition. New nursing graduates cannot find jobs. I watched one young woman turned away from an HR desk with this statement: “We have no interest in new graduates this year.” The candidate mumbled: ‘Well, I was just checking back to see if anything had changed.” She cast me a sideways glance, as I sat on a chair waiting to be seen, myself, and lowered her eyes in dejection. I could only wonder if I was next to be brushed aside by a curt: “We have no interest in older nurses this year.” In one of my interviews, I was asked what I would do if someone asked me to do something that was unethical or illegal. I answered: “I would say NO. Emphatically.” The follow-up question was even more concerning: “But what if this was the Chief of Staff, or the CEO?” My response was unchanged. Several of the people on the interview panel looked surprised as they furtively marked their scorecards. What does that say about our health care system if this is a screening question?

What have you done for nursing lately? I ask this question again as I found in most interview processes that the focus is on character, not substance or experience. In Florence Nightingale’s time, women of good character did not become nurses. That Florence did was a bit of a scandal, but because of her bold vision, nursing left the confines of the cloisters and the dungeons of the asylums. That this exodus led to the battlefields of the Crimea and the infection repositories of the inner city hospitals of the early Industrial Age is of minor distraction. That is one of the reasons why early in the history of nursing, as it sought to become a respected profession, and up to the Second World War, nursing students could not be married. To do so risked expulsion from the training. Nursing was all about sacrifice, servitude, obedience, and yes, character. A nurse could not simultaneously serve two masters: husband and profession. It is not surprising then, that even today, nurses are held to a higher standard of scrutiny in screening interviews. We are still the standard bearers for service and integrity in the workplace. We are counted upon to know when to exercise the emphatic NO. And lo and behold! We have learned to serve many masters at the same time.

What have you done for nursing lately? I close with this question as a challenge to us all. Have we moved our profession forward, enough, as individuals and as a collective force? I do not speak of unionization here, I speak of tangible steps taken to advance the practice of nursing. Advanced degrees. Certification. Publication. Mentorship. Stewardship. Legislation. Research. Teaching. The possibilities for contributing are endless. As I watch colleagues rail against the changes we are facing as a profession, I summon my inner Florence. What will I do on May 12th to celebrate her birthday? Will I pause for a moment of silence at noon like nurses all over the world are encouraged to do in honor of the profession and as a reaffirmation to the principles of nursing? Or will I just grab another handful of kettlecorn and feel valued?

Don’t worry, Florence. I’m still on your team. I am still a woman of good character (I think) and I am still married. I will pause, as always, at noon on your birthday, which is now also International Nurse’s Day, and feel privileged to be a nurse and honor your memory. But, I may also have cake. After all, it is your birthday. Those icing rosettes are celebrations in themselves!

If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him

Buddha died for my sins.
Then he came back again.

Buddha died for my sins.
Then he came back again.

Buddha died for my sins.
Then he came back again.

Buddha died for my sins.
Then he came back again.

Buddha died for my sins.
Then he came back again.

Finally he expressed frustration
for the cycles of reincarnation.

He asked me for consideration
so he could enjoy liberation.

This came in a wine-fueled dream,
Buddha dressed as a U.S. Marine.

He said: "Listen. Stop your sinning.
The other side keeps on winning."

I said I would do my best.
Buddha went to get some rest.

-- Rich Seeley

When The Desert Gets Hot, The Snowbirds Get Going

Two days now of triple digits
Minnesotans start their fidgets.

Snowbirds all red and sweaty
getting that Winnebago ready.

Late spring makes the call,
heading back to old Saint Paul.

Winter in the desert is nice.
There's no snow and there's no ice.

January's time for their desert hello.
But now the heat melts their jello.

The Siren Song of the Midwest
where summer is just the best.

They say goodbye to us desert rats
one last wave of the big straw hat.

Course, we don't tell, they don't know
how glad we are to see them go.

No more farmers running into trees
high on Viagra in their SUVs.

No more lines at the postal place
where they move at a snail's pace.

No more waiting in line at McDonalds
with people in clothes just like Ronald's.

Sure, summer here is hotter than hell
but there's a secret we won't tell.

Without the lines at the 7-11,
the desert feels just like Heaven.

-- Rich Seeley

Ananda Sings to Every Sound

Ananda sings to every sound
in our home and all around.

Every time our phone rings
he decides it's time to sing.

Blow dryers set him off.
He even sings when we cough.

Leaf blowers get him to trillin'.
He's also fond of old Bob Dylan.

Sings along with the washing machine.
On the job, caroling clothes clean.

Lawnmowers and even weed-eaters,
bathroom fan gets some tweeters.

When he hears those Harleys roaring,
he goes fortissimo, starts soaring.

Sounds that get on human nerves,
Ananda harmonizes with verve.

-- Rich Seeley

Happy Buddha Fat and Bald

An email this a.m. from "Who Remembers Me?"
promises links to long lost pals for a modest fee.

They claim some distant friend is acting as my sponsor
but I suspect this outfit snagged my name off Monster.

Millions of unemployed with their resumes online
supply marketing gurus with an email goldmine.

Would I like to lose weight or make a million dollars?
Serenity and prosperity from men in clerical collars.

I could get a deal on a truck with fuel injectors
and never be bothered again by calls from bill collectors.

I can find inner peace and think like Einstein
by just creating a password for wisdom online.

An evangelical site offers to erase my sins,
just enter Visa numbers and I will get a PIN.

A "Christian Mom" makes five thousand dollars a week.
She's accepting AmEx if I want to take a peek.

I am left to ponder what a Buddhist Mom might do.
Sit in mediation and try to grow bamboo?

But the spell is broken as my email dings
offering a perfect body and an end to bathtub rings.

The job of my dreams is just a mouse click away.
A new book will tell how to turn work into play.

Unemployed with no credit, I offer my demurs
I have all the diseases but can't afford the cures.

- Rich Seeley

The Rhyme of the Ancient Handyman

Our handyman is not ancient but he still deserves a rhyme.
For this is the story of a handyman who is running out of time.
It is not his fault when you consider the recessionary aspects.
After staff cuts, he's the lone man servicing this hundred unit complex.
Our architectural wonder was built in the 1970s.
Now things fall apart, especially the amenities.
So while he works on one project he gets calls on his walkie talkie:
"Can you come to Unit 26 where the toilet is balky?"
"I'm installing a microwave and I can't find the stud."
"Sorry, but 26 is experiencing a flood."
In the kitchen installing our new microwave,
he excuses himself, there's a toilet to save.
"I'll be back in a few." Then he runs out the door.
"Don't touch anything it could fall on the floor."
So there's my dilemma as can be clearly seen.
One sneeze and our new microwave is smashed to smithereens.
Patiently I await the handyman's return
while trying my best to appear unconcerned.
On the Science Channel they are explaining gravity,
which is what's working against the microwave and me.
I next watch a PBS film on the Bolshoi,
and have time left over to read the complete works of Tolstoy.
I was starting on Proust when there was a knock at the door.
"Remember me, I'm the handyman, I was here once before."
He didn't seem to be talking about reincarnation,
so I figured he was back for the microwave installation.
And he spent a full minute studying the precarious appliance
then left to get a washer while I went back to science.
The universe is aging the grave scientist said:
"It's only a matter of time before the sun will be dead."
I'm sorry to learn of earth's inevitable doom,
but my real fear is I won't get to use the new microwave if the handyman doesn't come back soon.

-- Rich Seeley

A Cat's Eye View of Holy Week

I love this bird although I am a cat.
But the humans doubt my sincerity when it comes to that.
I may be wrong. It's just a hunch.
But I believe the humans think I wanna have this bird for lunch.

It's Holy Week for those who give a damn.
But what do they mean when they proclaim that the lion will lay down with the lamb.
No matter what they say that they believe,
I suspect they think the lion's got a lamb chop up his sleeve.

-- Rich Seeley

Do birds notice the recession?

U.S. Jobless Claims Rise Unexpectedly -- headline in today's New York Times


Do birds flying by astronomy
see the downturn in our economy?

Fewer feeders this spring than last?
Insect population falling fast?

Shortages of berries and nuts?
Flowers folding, blossom shuts?

Birds fretting about the economy?
Not happening it appears to me.

No lack of trees or nesting supplies.
Cat on the job, that's no surprise.

We wintered down in Yucatan
heading up now to old Spokane.

Do not know, haven't heard.
This economy is for the birds.

-- rich seeley

how to fool a finch

sez here
in small
print that
the canary
sings to
attract
a mate

if you put
a mirror
in his cage
he sees
himself
& thinking
he's found
his own
true love
he ceases
singing

sure enough
hanging a mirror
in ananda's
cage this week
ended his song
he spent
all day
looking at
his reflection
"i see
my mate
i cease
my song
i've found
true love"

but humans
did not love
the birdsong
of silence
& removed
the mirror
this morning

"my true love
has flown
the coop
& i must
go on singing"

& so he does
& i sez
"happy april
fool's day,
ananda"

-- rich seeley