By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN
I am struck by how many staff nurses now tell me that they don’t feel respected for what they do. In fact, many attempts at showing gratitude toward nurses today backfire because what nurses want is respect not pizza parties or messages of gratitude. Even the continued number one trust ranking among professions in recent Gallup polling was met with some cynicism. As one manager told me – there is a difference between trust and respect. The public may trust that as a nurse I will do the right thing but not respect my opinion and devalue my work.
Although these feelings of not being respected have always existed in nursing, the situation now is amplified as many nurses add a sense of being dispensable to their perceptions of how they are treated. Healthcare professionals in several states were ordered back to work this month even when they test positive for Omicron because of staffing shortages. The interviews of healthcare staff impacted by these mandates included statements like this is a dangerous practice that devalues our lives. Just last week according to Becker’s hospital report, several large systems took an unprecedented step and reached out to the public urging them to show compassion and respect in the face of massive staffing shortages
So I guess I was not surprised when one of our blog readers reached out last week and put her thoughts about this in writing. With her permission, her email is published below.
You just deliver babies
While this statement has bothered me throughout my whole career, I dealt with it better in the past than I do now. Is it because of Covid? I don’t know. You be the judge…
Most women, no matter how long it has been since they delivered their babies, can tell you about their labor nurse. Some remember their names; others just have a vague recollection of what she looked like. But everyone says they couldn’t have gotten through it without her. But she/he doesn’t matter.
Years ago in our misogynistic culture, labor nurses evaluated laboring moms as they came into the hospital, followed individual doctor preferences, and got moms ready to have their babies. The doctors came in, delivered them, and got all the credit – at least financially for all the fabulous outcomes. The doctors signed orders that the nurses had already carried out and went back to the office or the golf course. But she/he doesn’t matter.
Fast forward to today and years of litigation, the government and insurance companies having their say about what constitutes appropriate care and we now have more protocols and policies than you can shake a stick at. However, doctors still can’t always get their orders entered correctly or get to the hospitals in a timely manner and the labor nurse still delivers the baby. But she/he doesn’t matter.
In hospitals across the country, daily census reports to senior executives are given by overall hospital numbers minus the number in women and children sections. Productivity metrics do not reflect labor and delivery units as having 2 patients in every room – mom and her unborn baby. As a labor nurse, one of my patients is invisible but most moms would give their own lives to save their baby’s life. Why aren’t they counted and why do labor nurses have to work so much harder than our counterparts in other areas of the hospitals? But she/he doesn’t matter.
Supply chains consistently make sure PPE supplies are available in covid units. Hello, laboring moms have covid. Why do I have to ask for supplies every day? Why are all OB supplies special orders so that the nurse manager must keep up with these instead of folks trained in logistics?
Our morbidity and mortality statistics for pregnant patients in the US are deplorable, particularly for our moms of color. Every support group, advocacy group, and regulatory agency agrees that there is health inequity. No one in our hospitals listens because we don’t matter because you just deliver babies!
Thanks for listening
As we look at rebuilding our nursing workforce in 2022, we need to hear from nurses about what will constitute a respectful environment for their practice. Without taking the time to listen – nurses will continue to feel that they don’t matter and the shortage will be impossible to overcome.
© emergingrnleader.com 2022
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