Buckle Up Nurses! For Halloween Full Moon 2020

This weekend is Halloween and if you have seen any good horror films lately you can probably guess the ERs will be full of victims of attempted serial slayings, heart attacks from being scared to near death, too much candy tummy aches, and the occasional razor blade in the apple trick (Halloween 2 if you aren’t familiar). That’s not really what happens, but the ERs do tend to fill up during the Halloween festivities, usually because cars and tiny pedestrians dressed in dark colors are not a good combination. This year, though, I fully expect extra weird because 2020 needed a full moon on October 31.

Why would the phase of the moon have any kind of effect on people ending up in the ER? Honestly, I don’t know the answer to that, but according to Almanac.com 43% of healthcare professionals will agree that a full moon definitely influences the amount of interesting cases in the ER and an influx of moms-to-be being admitted to L & D. Even more interesting is that 81% of mental health professionals believe the full moon has an effect and if anyone knows anything about things getting a little weird, it’s our brethren in the mental health field. Saints, every single one.

Some people call this superstition but I think that history sides with me on the full moon making people just a little crazy. For example, the Latin term for moon is Luna, which is also the base for words like LUNAtic or LUNAcy. We’ve all heard the term “Loony bin” when referring to the psych ward. So, if the moon isn’t playing with our sanity, why the creative wordplay?

As for babies being born, science doesn’t truly back up the notion that more babies are born on a full moon, but there does seem to be an increase before and after the full moon. Allow me to pose a theory- women go into labor on the full moon and the baby is born a day or two after, once the full moon has ended. It just makes sense that the process starts on a full moon but ends when it ends. Can’t rush a baby.

The last time there was a full moon on Halloween was 1944. In 1944, we were in the middle of World War 2 and untold human rights atrocities were being committed, D-Day landings happened, sports were cancelled, 4 tornadoes struck the area of America known as Appalachia on one day killing 153 people, American’s raised the flag at Iwo Jima, riots in Mexico City, Anne Frank was arrested, Paris was destroyed, 48 people died in a train accident- the list continues, but I’m sure you get it. It was also a terrible year, not unlike this year. There aren’t many numbers on how many people ended up in hospitals for non-war related injuries out there, but judging by how things were going, I’ll assume it was more than a couple.

So, buckle up witches! This Halloween might be scarier than you can imagine! Of course, it could also be completely boring because everyone will choose the socially responsible thing and stay home due to the PANDEMIC. Who am I kidding? 40% of the population will be knocking on doors and trading tricks for treats. I get it. We all need a treat right now. If we can survive Halloween 2020, we can survive just about anything!

Here’s a tip: the next time Halloween and the full moon coincide will be the year 2039. I’m not making any promises, but that could shape up to be a pretty rough year. Be ever vigilant my friends! Happy Halloween!

How Many More Demands Can Be Placed On Nurses?

How much more can we handle? The number of demands on nurses is increasing at a rapid rate. This is a serious issue that seems to be swept under the rug. Does anyone even care that we are turning into Target cashiers that are also responsible for keeping people alive at the same time? Log in… Scan… Beep… “Oops it didn’t recognize your bracelet, let me scan it again”… “There it took it now.”… Scan fluids… beep… scan IV pump… beep back to the computer screen again… type in some info… “Where is the call light?” … Beep… “Can I get another nurse in here to witness my Magnesium?” …. beep… “There is no nurses at the nurses station, I will send someone in as soon as I can!” …beep…beep…beep. (hold on, have I even looked at my patient in the eyes?). I mean seriously WTF?

This is the modern day world of nursing that we are currently dealing with on a day to day basis. Oh how I miss the simpler days. The days when you had time to look at your patient in the eyes. The days when your back wasn’t turned away from your patient 90 percent of the day because you have to stare at the glaring lights of the computer screen. Don’t get me wrong. I realize that there are advantages to all of this new technology. I know about patient safety and how this has helped reduce medication errors. I also love the fact that you don’t have to wait 10 hours for medical records to send you a chart anymore. These improvements are amazing. But when is it enough? Where do we draw the line that these new demands on nurses are too much?

I am tired of all of it. I am burnt out. How much more can they add to my workload? Just when I think that I can’t handle one more new task, (and trust me I can’t), they add something else. I have had family members say to me “Just don’t do it.. Do it the old way and take care of your patient”. Oh how I wish it was that simple. The fear of being written up is always lurking in the back of you mind. Or the weekly chart audits catching you. So you can’t. You can’t relax or even breathe anymore. The fear of management and possibly losing your job crushes your soul. So you scan…beep… beep…beep… because you have to. All the while, day after day, you lose a little bit more of your self.

I can’t even begin to tell you the number of times that I have gone into my managers office to let her know how near impossible this all is. How at any moment we are going to implode and crumble to pieces. I have had days where there are tears in my eyes, my neck in knots and I have been meet with a soulless stare from the higher ups. The answer is always the same. “I am sorry you feel that way. but…” I know what the but means. The but means that making money and meeting quotas is what is the most important factor. I am replaceable. I am a cashier. I am a number. Will anyone ever hear us? So for now I continue to scan. beep… beep.. beep.

Seniority In Nursing Is Gone

I think it’s time to have a serious conversation about healthcare. To quote Jay-Z, “I’m not trying to be a businessman, I’m trying to be a business, man.” What does that even mean? Basically, it means that Jay-Z does not want to be defined by his position within a company, he wants to define the company. If we were doing healthcare the right way, nurses and doctors would be setting the standards for the industry instead of the industry dictating how they should do their jobs.

As a nurse, it is extremely difficult to nurture your instinct and inner drive to care for and support your patients when you are also making sure that you have complied with every policy and procedure laid out by the non-medical CEO of the company/hospital. Your gut tells you that your patient is depressed and needs a few minutes of your attention just to talk, but you know the charge nurse on your floor is literally standing outside the door with a stopwatch, ready to accuse you of wasting time. You might just need ten minutes to yourself to catch a breather after a patient has coded but your patient load is already more than you can physically manage during your shift, so that ten minutes will have to happen after you clock out in 6 hours.

This kind of “Corporate Nursing” doesn’t change much despite the many years an individual has dedicated to their job. There are not many perks to being the senior nurse on the floor, except, maybe, a finely honed bullshit radar. You can’t pick the better shifts because you’ve been there longer. You don’t have better odds of getting your requested holiday off because you’ve worked 6 Christmas Days in a row.

Some people think this keeps things fair. If you are a new nurse, you might really appreciate being on the same playing field as the nurses who have spent the last 10 years working the floor. I get that. However, if we dive into this a little further, we might find another reason that no one truly gains seniority. It could be because hospital administrations do not care. Seniority doesn’t count because turnover rates in hospitals are staggering.

What is supposed to be an empathetic role in health is viewed under the microscope of profit. Each nurse is a cog in the giant money-making machine that is America’s Healthcare System. Nurses are pushed and pulled in every direction, for long hours, on holidays, during crises and the burnout is real. What happens when a nurse burns out? She goes to the higher-ups for help and, eventually, finds herself looking for a new job because the hospital administration knows there will be a fresh crop of bright-eyed, naive nursing students ready to step into that now vacant spot.

Is this fixable? In my opinion, not while the healthcare system is privatized and for profit. Profit gets in the way of compassion. The bottom line is the number one concern. What is lost in the pressure for financial gain?

The Nightingale Pledge we all took states:

“I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession, and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping, and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling. With loyalty will I endeavor to aid the physician in his work, and as a ‘missioner of health’ I will dedicate myself to devoted service to human welfare.”

There is no mention of profits or shareholders or money.

Nurses should be more Mother Teresa and less John D. Rockefeller. Hospitals should be a place we go to for healing, not for financial ruin. We cannot possibly hope to foster a sense of teamwork and camaraderie in the nursing staff without job security and support from administration. No matter the profit paid out, no matter the bonuses the CEOs take home, the current state of healthcare means that humanity, and especially nurses, are operating at a loss.