California Governor Gavin Newsom proposes that nurses be trained in ICU care in just 48 hours.  Maybe they can be trained in 2 days but certainly not sufficiently enough to do things safely or within the standard of care.

A nurse with only 48 hours of ICU training may end up being more of a danger to a COVID 19 patient than the virus itself.

But what difference does that make when hospitals cannot be sued for malpractice involving COVID related cases?

I would like to be standing alongside Governor Newsom while he learns to become proficient as an ICU nurse in a mere 2 days.  Of course, it will not happen and, in fact, can NOT happen!  Even if he had a medical background to start with, it just is not feasible for such a Herculean feat, even by a Governor.

To become an effective and safe nurse requires years of practice and continued education for one “to get their nursing legs.”

More precisely, the assumption that one can go from a different type of nursing care to learn ICU practices in 48 hours is also ridiculous!

Many nurses have spoken up saying Newsom’s whimsical idea will not work.  They have talked about how they themselves had 6 months of training before they were allowed to take patients on their own without the support of other already professionally trained medical personnel.

I caution any California nurse to think again if they believe they can become a proficient ICU nurse in less time than it takes to drive from Los Angeles to New York City.

You may not be sued for malpractice because of the laws protecting COVID 19 healthcare providers from legal action but, nevertheless, your LICENSE IS STILL ON THE LINE.

Do not make the mistake of trusting a politician’s statement over the most basic reality of what is known by essentially every person in the healthcare profession.  Which do you believe provides a more trustworthy educated and work-experienced opinion?

2 days?  The idea would be laughable if it did not involve the life-and-death issues accompanying the COVID pandemic.

I strongly encourage you to invite your legislators to shadow you in the ICU so they can see what you are dealing with and decide for themselves if someone can be trained in 2 days.

Let me know below your thoughts on Governor Newsom’s statement.

A Minnesota emergency room nurse was concerned about having to wear his own scrubs to work during COVID and returning home to his wife and children wearing those potentially contaminated scrubs.  He worried about bringing the virus home and passing it on to his family.

Scrubs were available in the emergency department and healthcare workers at other hospitals in the same system were allowed to wear the scrubs provided by the hospital.

However, at this particular hospital, he was told he could NOT use the hospital scrubs.  He continued to wear the hospital acquired scrubs rather than his own and, as a result, was terminated.  Since then, he received a letter from the Board.

It is so aggravating to learn that nurses, who are trying to protect their families, cannot wear hospital provided scrubs but are forced to wear their own scrubs and to wear home after working with possible COVID patients at the hospital.

However, I do not condone violating hospital policy and he did receive a warning after which he continued to disobey the hospital policy and continued using the hospital provided scrubs.

The nurse felt he was forced to decide whether the most important point was the policy or the safety of his workplace, public health, and family.

There is an appropriate way to make change and there are appropriate channels for this.  If you cannot make change, then you can decide if you want to leave.

There are also other ways to protect your family’s health.  I know of nurses who brought an extra set of scrubs and changed clothes in the hospital before leaving.  I know nurses who, on arriving home, have changed in the garage and immediately took their potentially contaminated scrubs to their washing machines for cleaning.

Unfortunately, this particular nurse who chose to violate hospital policy has now received a complaint from the Board.

Anyone can file a complaint against a nurse and the Board will subsequently investigate to determine whether the file should be closed or the action on the complaint should proceed.

I have represented nurses who have taken from their hospital IV supplies for hydration and the Board considers that as theft.  Just borrowing hospital-provided scrubs which you don’t take home and are still laundered by the hospital … well, I’m not sure what the Board will think.

Unfortunately, this nurse now is unable to get a new job.  He believes he has been “blackballed.”  However, this nurse has been very vocal in publicizing his case on a website and on Twitter.

Hospitals do check you out and especially so with social media.  Would they want to hire a nurse who knowingly violated hospital policy?

If you want to make change, make it the appropriate way and be careful what you put on social media.  What are your thoughts about this matter?  Comment below please.

An Oregon oncology nurse posted a video on Tik Tok saying that she does not wear masks in public, continues to travel and allows her children to have playdates. Someone who viewed the video reported her to her employer.  She was placed on administrative leave.

In the video, this nurse apparently is in the break room at work and wearing scrubs with a stethoscope around her neck.  The hospital felt the nurse displayed “cavalier disregard for the seriousness of this pandemic and her indifference towards physical distancing and masking outside of work.”

Her employer responded with a statement saying that the video does not speak for the health system: “We also want to assure you that this one careless statement does not reflect the position of Salem Health or the hardworking and dedicated caregivers who work here.”

I have several thoughts on this issue.  The first is to advise you to be very careful of what you put on social media.  Do not do a Tik-Tok video in scrubs in your break room.  Even though you are on break, you are still on hospital property.  Even if you were not at work, you are considered a nurse 24/7 and while you may not like this, if your statement can impact your employer, that is not being professional as a nurse. Before doing a video or putting something on social media, ask yourself, “What is the purpose?”  I am not sure what this nurse’s purpose was in posting her video.  If your purpose is to educate the public that is one thing but if it is to create controversy or show your hospital or health facility is doing something wrong, that is another thing.

But my biggest concern is freedom of speech.  This nurse should be able to speak her mind regardless of whether or not it’s in line with company policies.

While there are very strong feelings on both sides of this pandemic, including whether to get vaccinated, whether to wear a mask, whether to travel, whether to allow your children to have playdates … all of these are very polarizing issues.  However, I do believe every nurse, just like every person, has the right to free speech and should not have his or her job placed on the line because of it. Check out these related blog posts.  https://empowerednurses.org/beware-of-using-social-media-as-a-nurse/  https://yournurseattorney.com/speech-is-not-always-free/

What are your thoughts?  Let us read your comments below.