I never believed it was my place to decide who was being truthful. Nor did I ever see it as my role to determine whether someone was deserving of care.
Pain should be its own diagnosis. One central in medical education which carries the same emphasis as hypertension, diabetes, or cancer. The diagnosis of pain also needs a national campaign on the same level as anti-stigma campaigns for addiction.
As a former ICU nurse I will never forget the feeling of sitting in an ICU and needing to be fed by my peers after my spinal cord injury. It was only for a few days till the swelling decreased, but the experience is etched into my memory forever.
I am a part of several private nursing forums with millions of nurses commenting. They largely despise anyone in pain. Moreover, they boast in words and on t-shirts about how much satisfaction they receive from withholding medications and watching people suffer.
First responders live in dangerous situations as a part of the job. Courage isn’t something spontaneous. It is a muscle that is built over time. Engaging in therapy to process all those previous events is the most terrifying animal I have ever needed to stare down. #ptsd
The feeling of someone dying in your arms knowing in their last seconds they believed you were the person who would save them is something no one ever forgets. #ptsd #ptsi
Thank you Senator.
I was a paramedic and an ER nurse. Therefore, many of the folks who needed my care ended up in that predicament by doing irresponsible acts. Any medic or nurse who says they have never engaged in risky behavior should retire.
If America were to gain access to private nursing forums the field of nursing would lose the title of “America’s Most Trusted Profession” it has held for twenty three years.
I am committed to being a voice in my beloved professions, nursing and paramedicine, to remind everyone why they do the job they do.
