Nurse Ratched’s Place

14 Responses to “In the Footsteps of Rosa Parks”

1. 

   Orfyn RN
   February 21st, 2012 at 2:07 pm

   As they said back in the sixties: Right On! It all has to do with the history of nurses, hospitals and physicians here in the USofA. Here is a capsule history extracted from my blog:
   In the beginning there was the Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. As with so many other institutions in that city, Benjamin Franklin was one of the founders. There were no trained nurses in those days, just women from the almshouse who worked in return for room and board. The hospital was in effect a family, and these women were the self sacrificing caretakers of that family, doing the housekeeping, laundry, cooking, bathing, etc. The Doctors were of course the head of the hospital family, and enjoyed all the perks and privileges. Remember too, that in those days bathing was believed to not be a healthy thing to do on a regular basis. Medicine itself was full of dangerous treatments such as bleeding and purging and even the use of animal dung and herbs as poultices for wounds. Hospitals were for the “Deserving Poor”, meaning the employed working class. Indigents need not apply. Wealthy people were cared for in the home.
   All this began to change with the Crimean war in Europe with Florence Nightingale, and the Civil war in the US with Clara Barton. The need for hygienic conditions became apparent, medicine began to be practiced on a scientific basis, and the need for a more trained workforce was recognized. The nurses now were those women of the working class who had to provide for themselves, and did not qualify as governesses or maids, the other legal occupations open to independent women. They were still seen as the caretakers of the hospital family, and got a meager wage, if any, as well as room and board. All respect and obedience was due to the heads of the family, the Doctors. As medicine advanced, this evolved into an apprenticeship model to train nurses, and the hospital school of nursing became the norm. Every hospital had one. At the same time, Doctors began to look at the practice of medicine as a business, and the hospital as their enterprise. Labor costs need be contained of course, so there was a great incentive to use the apprentices as an unpaid or lowly paid work force, so there was little need to employ the graduates of these programs. They were only there for the good of the family anyway. A few graduates were employed as supervisors. Other graduates worked for the wealthy in their homes on an as-needed basis.
   World War Two brought the next significant changes to nursing. Practically overnight, the need for a highly trained workforce of nurses materialized. The military establishment saw the need to regularize this workforce, to give them advanced training, and pay them accordingly, which led to commissioning them as officers. Before this they were just volunteers, with minimal sort of training. However, with the war over, the need shrank, and most of this cohort married and entered civilian life. Hospitals still needed this workforce so the apprentice system expanded and the employment prospects for graduates grew. Graduates staffed the days, apprentices the night shifts and weekends. Nurses were still the caretakers of the hospital, and expected to be totally self sacrificing. Nurses were explicitly excluded from basic labor laws such as Taft-Hartley, minimum wage, overtime, etc. Pay was not good. As recently as the late seventies nurses did not make as much as grocery checkout clerks.
   The next significant change was the explosion of technology in medicine. More people were in hospitals for more and more complicated procedures and treatments. Suddenly there was a large shortage of nurses. To further complicate the picture, the organization that accredited nursing schools banned the use of students to staff hospitals. Hospital schools of nursing began to close everywhere. There was no incentive for a hospital to have a school if it was not a source of cheap labor. The nursing shortage grew; wages climbed, and into this milieu entered Anne. (Anne is a character in my fictional blog).
   The question now is whether nurses will unite and use this moment to pull together to make change in the profession, or will they let it slip by as the profession has so many times in the past. There are so many things wrong in the health care system now, that a fundamental change in the relationship between hospitals and nurses in essential for improvement. However much the hospitals give lip service to “Nurses as professionals” the reality is that we are to them labor that must be contained and controlled. How often do we let non-nursing administrators define nursing practice? Why are we not pressing charges of practicing nursing without a license when they do? Think about it. Would they ever tell a licensed engineer or licensed electrician how to go about their practice? The electricians and the engineers would tell them to take a long walk off a short pier, and leave the work undone, and prosecute them if they try to get the work done without them. Why do we let them do it to us? And why aren’t the state boards backing us up? Nurse up out there!

2. 

   Amanda Trujillo MSN, RN
   February 22nd, 2012 at 1:08 am

   Wow….im an academic nerd, and I have to tell you how much I enjoyed reading that–I thank you not only for supporting the objective in all this, but for taking the time to really pain the history of what we do, who we are, and the challenges our profession has faced and will continue to face until more people stand up and say “never again.”

3. 

   Jessica Ellis
   February 22nd, 2012 at 11:45 am

   Well, I went over and commented on K’s post, so thought I’d comment here as well. While K brought up some excellent points about how administration can find sneaky ways of getting rid of people, I disagree that the correct course of action is just to lie low, remain “humble,” take your lumps, and move on. That’s just what so many nurses have done in the past, and look at where it’s gotten our profession…we’re being walked all over and looked at as disposable property.

   I, for one, am so glad Amanda took this to someone else, who took it to someone else, who took it to the blogosphere at large! Your take on it is so appropriate…we’re all just so TIRED of being expected to kow-tow to what amounts to professional abuse, and TIRED of being expected to get up and give a seat to those just wanting to make money or put people in our seat who aren’t interested in making such a fuss about better patient care.

4. 

   Arizona’s attack on nurses: the Amanda Trujillo case goes viral - Three Sonorans
   February 23rd, 2012 at 10:44 pm

   [...] From In the Footsteps of Rosa Parks. [...]

5. 

   “What Has Your Nursing Association Done For You Lately? What would they be doing differently for Amanda Trujillo, RN in the Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center, Sun City, Arizona situation? | Nurse Up!
   March 22nd, 2012 at 1:18 pm

   [...] In the Footsteps of Rosa Parks, Mother Jones, RN, February 20, 2012:”You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.” Rosa Parks. Nurse K, the proprietor of Crass-Pollination: An ER Blog just wrote a post about the Amanda Trujillo case. She and I have very different opinions about Amanda’s case, but I encourage you to read her post because she reflects the opinion of many nurses about Amanda’s situation. Nurse K gives an accurate blow by blow description on how corporate nurse leaders wage war against their nursing staff. She explains how nurse managers orchestrate the demise of nursing careers. Make management angry and you get the axe, and there isn’t a nurse alive that hasn’t witnessed or experienced the wrath of hospital management. Nurses scatter and go underground when someone gets in trouble, and conventional wisdom states that a nurse should be contrite and take their punishment when they are abused by those who hold power. Many people are wondering why Amanda didn’t follow the same path. Some, like Nurse K, are suggesting that Amanda is committing career suicide. Other’s have told Amanda to “shut up.” The American Nurses Association and the Arizona Nurses Association won’t support an individual nurse who is “under investigation.” Egregious comments and actions are coming from the Arizona Board of Nursing. Kim McAllister from Emergiblog writes about the board’s actions here.” http://www.nurseratchedsplace.com/2012/02/in-the-footsteps-of-rosa-parks/ [...]

6. 

   “What Has Your Nursing Association Done For You Lately? What should they be doing differently for Amanda Trujillo, RN in the Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center, Sun City, Arizona situation? | Nurse Up!
   March 22nd, 2012 at 7:48 pm

   [...] In the Footsteps of Rosa Parks, Mother Jones, RN, February 20, 2012:”You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.” Rosa Parks. Nurse K, the proprietor of Crass-Pollination: An ER Blog just wrote a post about the Amanda Trujillo case. She and I have very different opinions about Amanda’s case, but I encourage you to read her post because she reflects the opinion of many nurses about Amanda’s situation. Nurse K gives an accurate blow by blow description on how corporate nurse leaders wage war against their nursing staff. She explains how nurse managers orchestrate the demise of nursing careers. Make management angry and you get the axe, and there isn’t a nurse alive that hasn’t witnessed or experienced the wrath of hospital management. Nurses scatter and go underground when someone gets in trouble, and conventional wisdom states that a nurse should be contrite and take their punishment when they are abused by those who hold power. Many people are wondering why Amanda didn’t follow the same path. Some, like Nurse K, are suggesting that Amanda is committing career suicide. Other’s have told Amanda to “shut up.” The American Nurses Association and the Arizona Nurses Association won’t support an individual nurse who is “under investigation.” Egregious comments and actions are coming from the Arizona Board of Nursing. Kim McAllister from Emergiblog writes about the board’s actions here.” http://www.nurseratchedsplace.com/2012/02/in-the-footsteps-of-rosa-parks/ [...]

7. 

   Nurseup.com, A Nursing Advocacy Organization | Nurse Up!
   March 24th, 2012 at 10:56 pm

   [...] In the Footsteps of Rosa Parks, Mother Jones, RN, February 20, 2012:”You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.” Rosa Parks. Nurse K, the proprietor of Crass-Pollination: An ER Blog just wrote a post about the Amanda Trujillo case. She and I have very different opinions about Amanda’s case, but I encourage you to read her post because she reflects the opinion of many nurses about Amanda’s situation. Nurse K gives an accurate blow by blow description on how corporate nurse leaders wage war against their nursing staff. She explains how nurse managers orchestrate the demise of nursing careers. Make management angry and you get the axe, and there isn’t a nurse alive that hasn’t witnessed or experienced the wrath of hospital management. Nurses scatter and go underground when someone gets in trouble, and conventional wisdom states that a nurse should be contrite and take their punishment when they are abused by those who hold power. Many people are wondering why Amanda didn’t follow the same path. Some, like Nurse K, are suggesting that Amanda is committing career suicide. Other’s have told Amanda to “shut up.” The American Nurses Association and the Arizona Nurses Association won’t support an individual nurse who is “under investigation.” Egregious comments and actions are coming from the Arizona Board of Nursing. Kim McAllister from Emergiblog writes about the board’s actions here.” http://www.nurseratchedsplace.com/2012/02/in-the-footsteps-of-rosa-parks/ [...]

8. 

   Scrubs Magazine: Arizona BON Keeps Trujillo Under Fire | Notes from the Nurses’ Station www.rncentral.com | Nurse Up!
   March 27th, 2012 at 11:30 pm

   [...] In the Footsteps of Rosa Parks, Mother Jones, RN, February 20, 2012:”You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.” Rosa Parks. Nurse K, the proprietor of Crass-Pollination: An ER Blog just wrote a post about the Amanda Trujillo case. She and I have very different opinions about Amanda’s case, but I encourage you to read her post because she reflects the opinion of many nurses about Amanda’s situation. Nurse K gives an accurate blow by blow description on how corporate nurse leaders wage war against their nursing staff. She explains how nurse managers orchestrate the demise of nursing careers. Make management angry and you get the axe, and there isn’t a nurse alive that hasn’t witnessed or experienced the wrath of hospital management. Nurses scatter and go underground when someone gets in trouble, and conventional wisdom states that a nurse should be contrite and take their punishment when they are abused by those who hold power. Many people are wondering why Amanda didn’t follow the same path. Some, like Nurse K, are suggesting that Amanda is committing career suicide. Other’s have told Amanda to “shut up.” The American Nurses Association and the Arizona Nurses Association won’t support an individual nurse who is “under investigation.” Egregious comments and actions are coming from the Arizona Board of Nursing. Kim McAllister from Emergiblog writes about the board’s actions here.” http://www.nurseratchedsplace.com/2012/02/in-the-footsteps-of-rosa-parks/ [...]

9. 

   Arizona Right to Fire, #Youtube, LoneProtestor, Another Banner Nurse, Career Almost Destroyed #nurseup #amandatrujillo | Nurse Up!
   March 28th, 2012 at 12:54 pm

   [...] In the Footsteps of Rosa Parks, Mother Jones, RN, February 20, 2012:”You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.” Rosa Parks. Nurse K, the proprietor of Crass-Pollination: An ER Blog just wrote a post about the Amanda Trujillo case. She and I have very different opinions about Amanda’s case, but I encourage you to read her post because she reflects the opinion of many nurses about Amanda’s situation. Nurse K gives an accurate blow by blow description on how corporate nurse leaders wage war against their nursing staff. She explains how nurse managers orchestrate the demise of nursing careers. Make management angry and you get the axe, and there isn’t a nurse alive that hasn’t witnessed or experienced the wrath of hospital management. Nurses scatter and go underground when someone gets in trouble, and conventional wisdom states that a nurse should be contrite and take their punishment when they are abused by those who hold power. Many people are wondering why Amanda didn’t follow the same path. Some, like Nurse K, are suggesting that Amanda is committing career suicide. Other’s have told Amanda to “shut up.” The American Nurses Association and the Arizona Nurses Association won’t support an individual nurse who is “under investigation.” Egregious comments and actions are coming from the Arizona Board of Nursing. Kim McAllister from Emergiblog writes about the board’s actions here.” http://www.nurseratchedsplace.com/2012/02/in-the-footsteps-of-rosa-parks/ [...]

10. 

    #Georgia #Nurses, Could This Happen To You? Learn More Today or Risk Your License Tomorrow #nurseup #nursefriendly | Nurse Up!
    March 28th, 2012 at 11:03 pm

    [...] In the Footsteps of Rosa Parks, Mother Jones, RN, February 20, 2012:”You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.” Rosa Parks. Nurse K, the proprietor of Crass-Pollination: An ER Blog just wrote a post about the Amanda Trujillo case. She and I have very different opinions about Amanda’s case, but I encourage you to read her post because she reflects the opinion of many nurses about Amanda’s situation. Nurse K gives an accurate blow by blow description on how corporate nurse leaders wage war against their nursing staff. She explains how nurse managers orchestrate the demise of nursing careers. Make management angry and you get the axe, and there isn’t a nurse alive that hasn’t witnessed or experienced the wrath of hospital management. Nurses scatter and go underground when someone gets in trouble, and conventional wisdom states that a nurse should be contrite and take their punishment when they are abused by those who hold power. Many people are wondering why Amanda didn’t follow the same path. Some, like Nurse K, are suggesting that Amanda is committing career suicide. Other’s have told Amanda to “shut up.” The American Nurses Association and the Arizona Nurses Association won’t support an individual nurse who is “under investigation.” Egregious comments and actions are coming from the Arizona Board of Nursing. Kim McAllister from Emergiblog writes about the board’s actions here.” http://www.nurseratchedsplace.com/2012/02/in-the-footsteps-of-rosa-parks/ [...]

11. 

    District of Columbia Nurses, Could This Happen To You? Learn More Today or Risk Your License Tomorrow #nurseup #nursefriendly #amandatrujillo | Nurse Up!
    March 29th, 2012 at 12:19 am

    [...] In the Footsteps of Rosa Parks, Mother Jones, RN, February 20, 2012:”You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.” Rosa Parks. Nurse K, the proprietor of Crass-Pollination: An ER Blog just wrote a post about the Amanda Trujillo case. She and I have very different opinions about Amanda’s case, but I encourage you to read her post because she reflects the opinion of many nurses about Amanda’s situation. Nurse K gives an accurate blow by blow description on how corporate nurse leaders wage war against their nursing staff. She explains how nurse managers orchestrate the demise of nursing careers. Make management angry and you get the axe, and there isn’t a nurse alive that hasn’t witnessed or experienced the wrath of hospital management. Nurses scatter and go underground when someone gets in trouble, and conventional wisdom states that a nurse should be contrite and take their punishment when they are abused by those who hold power. Many people are wondering why Amanda didn’t follow the same path. Some, like Nurse K, are suggesting that Amanda is committing career suicide. Other’s have told Amanda to “shut up.” The American Nurses Association and the Arizona Nurses Association won’t support an individual nurse who is “under investigation.” Egregious comments and actions are coming from the Arizona Board of Nursing. Kim McAllister from Emergiblog writes about the board’s actions here.” http://www.nurseratchedsplace.com/2012/02/in-the-footsteps-of-rosa-parks/ [...]

12. 

    Andrew Lopez, RN
    April 25th, 2012 at 9:44 pm

    Thank you Terri for following Amanda’s case, here is the latest.

    Red Flags & Questions I See in the Amanda Trujillo, ARNP Case, April 25, 2012 By Beth Boynton:”Amanda Trujillo is an ARNP yet was practicing as an RN. Now maybe there is a perfectly good explanation for this. Third shift is typically tough to staff and given our economy and the financial needs and family commitments, perhaps this was a perfect job opportunity for Amanda. But, honestly, I wonder why she wasn’t practicing as an ARNP rather than an RN? Scope of practice is an important issue in the case and quite different for RNs and ARNPs. Banner health could face serious liability issues if their RNs on duty are practicing out of scope.”
    http://www.confidentvoices.com/2012/04/25/red-flags-questions-i-see-in-the-amanda-trujillo-arnp-case/

13. 

    Andrew Lopez, RN (@nursefriendly)
    December 30th, 2012 at 4:16 pm

    The latest on the case:

    Facing a Crossroads, #AmandaTrujillo, MSN, RN & the Arizona State Board of Nursing:”At the heart of Amanda’s case is Patient Advocacy. Her patient was having second thoughts about a Liver Transplant evaluation, and Amanda helped fill in the gaps. The doctor, Dr. Keng-Yu Chuang (Source AZBON public records), who had only offered the liver transplant, went ballistic when the patient asked for Hospice info instead. He demanded the hospital serve Amanda’s head up on a platter and that the Arizona State Board of Nursing be contacted.”
    http://nurseup.com/wordpress/?p=2850

14. 

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    May 17th, 2013 at 1:50 am

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