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You are here: Home / Archives for Self-Care

Nurses Required to Participate Against Religious Objections

August 25, 2021 by LORIE A BROWN, R.N., M.N., J.D. 5 Comments

The United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVM Medical Center) for forcing their pro-life nurses to participate in abortions.  Even if a nurse expressed a religious objection to assisting in a sterilization or an abortion, the UVM Medical Center still assigned them to the procedures.

However, the Biden Administration then recently withdrew the case and asked that the investigation be terminated.  There was no reason given why this action was suddenly reversed.

Under the law, an employer cannot discriminate against you for your religious beliefs or moral convictions.  If a nurse has such beliefs opposing sterilization procedures or abortions, the employer is required to respect those convictions.

An interesting point is that the Biden administration is in favor of withholding federal funds from healthcare facilities that do not impose the mandatory COVID inoculation requirement.  However, how does that affect religious objections to the inoculations?

There are so many issues facing us today that it is difficult to fully grasp how it all is affecting our world, societies, and healthcare programs.  What are your thoughts on these two issues of federal government interceding on healthcare activities on both the personal and facility levels?

Let me know your thoughts below.

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Filed Under: Employment, Empowerment, License Protection, Self-Care

Do Peer Assistance Programs Support Nursing?

August 4, 2021 by LORIE A BROWN, R.N., M.N., J.D. 2 Comments

In a recent article on MedPage Today the question is asked, “Are peer assistance programs defective and harmful to nurses”? 

The article specifically discussed recent issues regarding the recovery and monitoring program (“RAMP”) in New Jersey.  RAMP discussed how nurses cannot work during the intake process, which can take up to 90 days, after which a decision is made when a nurse can return to work. 

It also discussed how costly RAMP is in that those nurses must pay a monitoring fee as well as for the testing which can range from $250 to $2000 depending on the type of evaluation required such as psychological, neurological or substance use. 

While the program boasts their high success rates, it is very concerning to me that these programs are designed for nurses to keep their licenses, yet their licenses are promptly suspended for 90 days while the evaluation is being conducted. 

In Indiana, nurses are referred to INPRP or ISNAP when there is an irregularity in documentation such as failing to witness waste, sign out or sign the administration of medication.  Fortunately, Indiana does not immediately suspend a nurse’s license unless there is a clear and immediate danger to the public, and such is done only after the nurse is afforded an opportunity to be heard on the matter. 

With protocols such as RAMP, I’m sure it spreads a chilling effect to nurses who may want or need to enter the program.  I don’t believe there is a nurse anywhere who wakes in the morning thinking, “I want to take drugs” or “drink alcohol.”   

Unfortunately, such abuse is a disease.  Nurses need all the help that they can get.  Nursing is stressful and getting even more stressful every day.  We need to support our nurses who fall into addiction by providing them with support in a safe haven so they can continue working if they can safely do so or return to the workforce quickly. 

In addition, if the nurse cannot work, such as with RAMP in New Jersey, it can be financially devastating to them. 

Meanwhile, in Indiana, there is a needs assistance program available to help cover the costs of drug screens and monitoring, but that needs assistance is not guaranteed. 

At a time when nurses are so desperately needed, I am hopeful they will be able to get the help they need in a caring compassionate environment so eventually they are again able to re-enter the workforce in a safe and healthy way.

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Filed Under: Employment, news, Self-Care, Workplace Issues

NURSES’ REFUSAL OF COVID VACCINES

June 9, 2021 by LORIE A BROWN, R.N., M.N., J.D. 20 Comments

I had great trepidation to write this article because it is so controversial among many nurses.  However, in my desire to share with you real world happenings, I chose to go ahead to write about this subject.

Houston Methodist Hospital’s Jennifer Bridges, R.N., has worked with COVID patients since the pandemic began.  She would assist patients to a window to see family members and at times hold a phone to their faces while family members spoke with them, many for the last time.  She suffered numbness in her arms from holding up iPhones or iPads for hours.  She risked infection, experienced the psychological toll of witnessing firsthand families in trauma.

She a times would find herself drenched in sweat and light-headed at the end of shifts.  Helping her patients was a task in which she went above and beyond.

Last month, her hospital became the first hospital in the country to require mandatory COVID vaccinations for all employees.  Those employees who did not comply and failed to provide proof of vaccination by this past Monday, June 7th, were suspended without pay for 2 weeks.  After that, they would be subject to termination.

Nurse Bridges, by no means an anti-vaxxer, received her annual flu inoculations as well as all the other recommended vaccines.  However, she did have concerns about taking the CV-19 vaccines because they were rushed onto the public with Federal Drug Administration (FDA) “emergency use authorization” rather having gone through the normal prescribed testing protocols previously required for vaccines prior to it going to the public.  Essentially, rather than the vaccines first being tested on animals, the public itself became the testing subjects.

She since has encountered dozens upon dozens of patients who experienced adverse reactions to the vaccines such as blood clots, heart arrhythmia, swollen appendages, etc.

Altogether, she does not feel comfortable at this point with the vaccines but maybe after they have been evaluated more in depth or even properly tested by the FDA, she would be more agreeable to accepting the vaccines.

In her home state of Texas, apparently only 33% of the residents are fully vaccinated meaning that two-thirds of the population has not received the full vaccination treatments.

That may reflect how the vaccine issues have split our nation into an “us vs. them” society.  I’ve seen the opinions and responses on social media of the 2 camps: those who believe in protecting themselves and others with the vaccines and those who are hesitant or even refuse to participate in the vaccination programs.  Most believers shun those that don’t want to get vaccinated but, interestingly, I have not seen many non-vaccinated who choose to shun their inoculated counterparts.

This is typical of the profession where “nurses eat their young” … shunning your brothers and sisters for choosing what they would like or not like to put in their bodies.

Ms. Bridges said, “This is supposed to be America!  You’re supposed to have civil rights and constitution rights, your freedom of choice. … Nobody should be forced to put anything into their body if they are not okay with it.”

While many health care facilities have mandatory flu vaccines, if one chooses not to take the inoculation, you can wear a mask.  But this is not so with the COVID vaccines.

According to the Health Law & Policy Institute at the University of Houston Law Center, an at-will employee of a private institution which has medical and religious exemptions in place, is not forcing her to take the vaccine.

With the support of other nurses, receiving signatures of more than a hundred co-workers, Ms. Bridges has filed suit against the hospital.  Will the courts allow her to have a choice of what goes in her body or err on the side of public health?  We shall see.

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Filed Under: articles, Employment, Newsletter, Self-Care, Workplace Issues

The Weight Of The World

June 7, 2018 by LORIE A BROWN, R.N., M.N., J.D. 5 Comments

I am of the opinion that when a person falls ill, it’s a symptom of something else going on in their life.  Whether you believe this, you can really heal yourself or not, just thinking that you can heal yourself works like the placebo effect.

I love Louise Hay’s book titled, “You Can Hear Your Life,” which, for instance, says shoulders “represent our ability to carry out experiences in life joyously. We make life a burden by our attitude.”

Our attitude affects our heath.  So if you believe that, and you change your attitude, it is like the placebo effect.  The placebo effect study showed that when patients were given a sugar pill, the pain resolved for 30% of those folks.

Whether you can or can’t heal your life, it’s a great position to stand in because if you can identify the reason for what is causing the problem then, at least, you can do something about it.

For me, I recently pulled a muscle in the back of my shoulder and realized that I was “carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders.”  Once I stepped back and took care of myself by removing some of the things that were on my plate which changed my attitude, I felt much better.

In fact, did you know that there is an American Holistic Nurses Association with a mission to illuminate holism in nursing practice, community advocacy, research and education.  Their vision is “every nurse is a holistic nurse.”

Wouldn’t it be interesting if the health care system took a preventative approach?  When people are ill, the health care professionals would work with the patient to find out the underlying cause(s) of the problem to help them heal, rather than using medications.  What are your thoughts about holistic nursing?  I would love to hear your comments below.

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Filed Under: Newsletter, Self-Care

The Opioid Crisis

April 26, 2018 by LORIE A BROWN, R.N., M.N., J.D. 2 Comments

The U.S. Surgeon General, Jerome Adams (coincidentally from Indiana), is recommending that Americans carry Narcan in the event of encountering an opioid-related overdose to reverse the affects of the opiates.  It is sad when the Surgeon General needs to recommend to Americans, (the general population) to carry Narcan.  Police and Fireman already carry it.  However, if my child were addicted to opiates, I would carry one too.

Since the demand for Narcan (Naloxone) has increased, so too has the price.  A Naloxone-filled syringe used to be $6.00 each, but now could cost from $30.00 and up.  The 2-pack of automatic Naloxone injectors runs more than $3,700!

While I am grateful that we can save the lives of those who have overdosed on opioids, we need to address the underlying problem and not just the symptoms.

There is a lot of funding going into this.  Congress has approved $6,000,000,000 in funding to respond to the opioid epidemic.  I’m not sure what the initiatives are, but my concern is placing people on methadone or Suboxone is just a bandaid.  We need to get at the underlying reason for the addiction in the first place.  If it is a mental health issue, that needs to be addressed.  For example, if someone is suffering from depression causing them to use opiates to feel better, the depression needs to be treated.  Also, the addiction itself needs to be addressed with tools on how to cope with the disease.

I would like to see the change begin with medical care.  Physicians prescribe so many narcotics and continue to refill these.  I see many nurses who get addicted to opioids after having some type of surgery, treatment for chronic pain or even dental procedures.

I want to see measures taken to improve the health of our country by creating wellness initiatives rather than symptomatic care.

What are your thoughts?  Let me know by adding your comments below.

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Filed Under: Newsletter, Self-Care

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