Nurse Ratched’s Place

Elvis Presley was the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. He was also the King of Las Vegas. You doubt my word? Check out the number of Elvis impersonators strolling the streets of Vegas. Just imagine what Elvis would be blogging about if he were still alive today. “I saw six guys that looked just like me walking down the street while I was driving to the casino today. They were all wearing spandex and blue suede shoes. Am I really that fat? OMG! I’m all shook up! I better lay off the peanut butter and banana sandwiches and call Jenny Craig.”

Elvis spent a lot of time in Las Vegas, and now you can, too. BlogWorld/NewMediaExpo 09 is holding its conference in Las Vegas and it’s going to be big. Med bloggers from around the country are getting together to talk about what’s happening in the blogosphere. I can’t wait to meet the people behind the blogs. Kim from Emergiblog got the ball rolling. We took a vote, and here is the result, the Medblogger track line-up:

Panel #1 The State of the Health Blogosphere: We’ve Come A Long Way, Baby.
Moderator: Kim McAllister, Emergiblog
Panelist: Kevin Pho, Kevin MD
Panelist: Nick Genes, Blogborygmi
Panelist: Kerri Sparling, SixUntilMe

Panel #2 Staying On The Good Side of HIPAA: Safe and Ethical Blogging Practices.
Moderator: Mike Sevilla, Doctor Anonymous
Panelist: Rob Lamberts, Musings of a Distractible Mind
Panelist: Debra Farber, IBM
Panelist: Bob Coffield, Health Care Law Blog

Panel #3 Blogging For Change: How To Influence Healthcare Through Blogging.
Moderator: Val Jones, Better Health
Panelist: Neil Taverner, Other Things Amanzi
Panelist: Terri Polick, Nurse Ratched’s Place
Panelist: Gene Ostrovsky, Medgadget

Panel #4 The Value of Blogs To Hospitals, Industry, and News Organizations.
Moderator: Gary Schwitzer, Health News Review
Panelist: Marc Monseau, Johnson & Johnson ’s JNJBTW Blog
Panelist: Bob Stern, MedPage Today
Panelist: Paul Levy, Running A Hospital.

The conference starts on October 15 and runs through October 17. The Medblogger track takes place on October 15th and costs $200. Use the discount code MEDBLOG when you sign up. And by the way, I’m sure that Elvis would give Johnson and Johnson, and Medpage Today a hardy “thank you very much” for sponsoring the Medblogger track. Click here to learn more about how to register for BlogWorld/NewMediaExpo 09 . See you in Vegas, Baby!

Elvis has left the building.

I hate it when I can’t get into conversations that are happening on my own blog. My job at UGH (undisclosed government hospital) has a way of getting in the way of my real life. Jeanne T. has asked a lot of valid questions about healthcare reform. She also asked me to answer some of her questions. Here we go:

Have you read HR: 3200?

I have not read all of H.R. 3200 – America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. Reading War and Peace is more entertaining than reading a congressional bill, so I only got through about 150 pages of text before my brain cells started imploding. However, I did learn a few things about the proposed legislation. No one is going to kill your grandma or reduce Medicare benefits. This new legislation will save money by cutting billions of dollars in overpayments to insurance companies and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. Maybe that’s why the insurance industry is spending billions of dollars to defeat this bill.

Question: Do you currently have money taken out of your paycheck
for Social Security?
 Do you believe that you will receive Social Security assistance when you pass the age of 65, 70?
 What is the reason that you and I will not receive Social Security checks?

Answer: Do I have money taken out of my check for Social Security? Is the Pope Catholic? The good people at UGH take money out of my check every two weeks for Social Security, and I know that I’ll never see that money again.

I’m a nurse for life, which means I’m not going to retire. In other words, I’m going to die with my Nurse Mates on. Unfortunately, I believe that my peers are going to receive meager monthly social security checks after they retire. I know where you are heading with this question. “If the government can’t run the Social Security Administration, what makes you think that they can run a public health care system?” It’s all President Franklin Roosevelt’s fault. The social security system is the ultimate Ponzi scheme, and Roosevelt set it up as a safety net to help out old folks just before they died. The average life expectancy back when Social Security was set up was around 60 years old. President Roosevelt got messed up because he thought he we would always have more money coming in than going out. He didn’t know that our life expectancy was going to go up, and he had no idea that future administrations were going to tack on more entitlement programs. Now Roosevelt’s Ponzi scheme is out of control, not so much because of government mismanagement, but because we aren’t dying off quick enough to make the system work. Hey, wait a minute. Maybe we need to rethink those death panels. Just sayin’.

Question: Can the US government run a public health insurance agency?

Answer: Yes, I believe our government can do whatever we have the will to do. We put a man on the moon didn’t we? If those blood sucking, profit driven, insurance companies who make their money by keeping us away from healthcare providers can run insurance companies, why can’t the US government? Uncle Sam wants to keep us around until we’re too old to work so we can keep paying into the social security system. See above.

Question: How do you feel about politicians writing healthcare reform versus healthcare professionals?

Answer: I think that healthcare providers are in a better position to understand the lingo and the fine details that go into healthcare bills, but that doesn’t necessarily make them more trustworthy when they champion causes. The letters “MD” does not mean anything if the person lacks integrity. In my opinion, Dr Howard Dean is a man of great integrity. By the way, there are three nurses in Congress: Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), and Lois Capps (D- CA). I’ve had the honor of meeting each one of these fine ladies. They rock! Johnson and Capps support public option healthcare reform. McCarthy’s website reports that she supports H.R. 3200 – America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009.

That’s it for part one. I’ll write part two later. Like I said, working at UGH has a way of getting in the way of my personal life. It’s been nice talking to you. Keep the conversation going while I’m working this weekend at UGH.

I am awestruck by the amount of email that I’ve been receiving from readers of my
blog, and to those of you who have written to me during my series of posts about healthcare reform, I want to say thank you. I especially want to thank those of you who have been asking me if I hate America, hate God, or if I’m just posing as a nurse because I have nothing better to do, or because I want to pull your chain. I’m a big fan of conspiracy theories and apparently there are some people out there who have formulated some wild theories about my blog and me. It’s time to explore the great big wacko world of conspiracy theories in the healthcare blogosphere.

Let me be clear. I am a nurse, and I love pulling your chain, especially if you’re the type of person like Pamela Pilger that likes yelling Heil Hitler at Jewish men who attend town hall meetings. One reader asked me if left wing radicals were holding me hostage and forcing to write liberal dogma for them. I take that as a compliment. I’m flattered that someone thinks that I’m worth kidnapping. I know that conspiracy theorists want you to believe that Nancy Pelosi and her roving band of gay and lesbian followers are implanting computer chips into people that they grab off of the streets as a way of promoting their liberal agenda, but let me assure you that I’m writing down my own thoughts and feelings, but the next time I see Nancy lurking in the neighborhood with her crew, I will give her your regards.

There are some others out there who have asked me if I’m in cahoots with some big name liberals out in the blogosphere. Legal Nurse respectfully asked me if I am on George Soros’ payroll. I wish! I could use a second income right now, so if any of you happen to have his email address, please pass it on to me so I can send him my resume. I don’t agree with Legal Nurse’s opinions on healthcare reform, but at least LN is into civil conversations when he or she drops by my blog. Thanks, LN. Your mama raised you right. But seriously, I’m not on George’s payroll. Nor am I a correspondent for Democracy Now or for the Huffington Post, however I’d be honored if Amy Goodman or Arianna Huffington wanted to talk to me about writing for them. Sorry people, three more conspiracy theories shot down in flames!

Keep your comments and emails coming. I kind of feel like Mulder and Scully from the X-Files right now. The truth is out there along with a lot of people with active imaginations.

I got an email from my mother the other day that caught my eye. It was a viral email that is making its way around the Internet. The author of the email is asking supporters of healthcare reform to boycott Apple products because they sponsor Fox News. Now, I’m all for the cause, but I draw the line at my computer. Let me remind you of something. I don’t just have a computer. I have a MacBook Pro. That’s scared, baby, but I digress.

I asked myself what kind of person would ask liberal Apple devotees to turn their backs on Steve Jobs and his empire. The request is creepy and weird. It’s like asking a vegan to eat a side of bloody beef. I am a member of Steve’s cult, and I have to have my computer so I can write about the healthcare debate. There are a lot of myths circulating out on the Internet about healthcare reform. No, no one wants to pull the plug on granny. Proposed legislation would pay doctors for their time if seniors want to ask them questions about end of life issues as they write up their living wills. Seniors will continue to have the right to make themselves a “No Code,” or ask to be hooked up to every machine known to mankind when they are nearing the end of their life. And please stop worrying about Sarah Palin and her baby. There is no government death panel waiting to snatch her disabled child out of her arms. It’s repugnant that Mrs. Palin and others are suggesting that healthcare reform would reflect the Nazi’s Aktion T4 program. The Third Reich’s program executed the blind, deaf, senile, retarded, and people with significant neurological conditions. Sarah’s claim about death panels goes beyond myth, it’s disgraceful.

After giving this whole affair a lot of thought I’ve concluded that this viral email originated at Fox News. Yes sir, we liberal Mac lovers have Fox News on the run. I wonder what BS they are going to come up with next. Hey, Fox News. You want my iPhone? You’ll have to pry it out of my cold dead hands.

A scene from a classic movie popped into my head this morning when I was reading the Drudge Report. I remembered what happened when one of Dr. Frankenstein’s neighbors started telling lies about what was going on at the Frankenstein castle. He really knew how to incite a riot. One thing lead to another, and before you knew it the neighbors were storming the castle. Sound familiar? Thanks to the GOP, we have neighbors turning on each other and storming town hall meetings.

I was shocked when I saw a video today that was shot at a town hall meeting. Things really got out of control. The video showed people that are normally law abiding citizens engaging in disorderly conduct. A congresswoman was trying to speak about healthcare reform. Then an unruly crowd came charging through a set of doors and started banging on windows. There was yelling and cursing. I got upset watching the video. I can only imagine what it was like to have been in the room. The GOP and their conservative surrogates are on a campaign to defeat healthcare reform in this country. They are doing this by spreading lies in order to get the fear monger ball rolling. The insurance industry is spending over a million dollars a day to defeat healthcare reform in our country. They are doing this through the media (I’m talking to you, Fox News), and through public relation campaigns. People are being urged to “storm the streets.” It’s sad to watch people being manipulated into doing things that can have legal consequences. It’s even sadder that these people don’t understand that they would benefit from a public option plan.

It’s only a matter before someone really gets hurt. I hope that person isn’t one of the 44 million people in our country who doesn’t have health insurance.

Have you ever wondered why nursing students like this one carry just one candle in their nursing lamp when they get capped. We just use one candle to cut down on confusion. The instructions are easy to remember. Use one candle means only use ONE candle. You just can’t screw it up.

Today is a special day over at Emergiblog. It’s Kim’s 4th/5th anniversary as reigning queen of nursing blogosphere. Let me explain. Our ever-so-wonderful web guy Shane, who I dearly love, tipped off bloggers that Emergiblog’s 5th anniversary was coming up, and he suggested that we throw Kim a big surprise party on our blogs. We were all ready to go, and then Dr. Ramona Bates from Suture for a Living noticed that the math didn’t add up. Ramona pointed out that Kim started Emergiblog in 2005, and that 2009-2005=4. So, you may see some conflicting posts out in the blogosphere today. Here are the facts:

1) Emergiblog has been around for four years. It’s starting its fifth year today as one of the most popular blogs in the healthcare blogosphere.
2) Doctors who enjoy quilting know how to do basic math. Hat tip to Ramona.
3) Kim is my blog mother. Kim encouraged me to start Nurse Ratched’s Place, and for that, I will always be grateful.
4) Shane is embarrassed about his math skills. He said that I could throw him under the bus for this. I just did. We love you, Shane. Kim and I would be toast without you. It’s the thought that counts.

I love the Internet. It has a way of bringing people closer together. I saw Governor Howard Dean at a town hall meeting in Washington D.C earlier this month. He’s a dynamic speaker. I wanted to ask him some questions, but the place was packed, so I couldn’t get close to him. Not to be deterred, I emailed Governor Dean in hopes of getting a response to a couple of my questions. He not only responded to my email, he agreed to an interview for my blog. See, the Internet really can bring people closer together. I want to thank Governor Dean for stopping by Nurse Ratched’s Place to talk about healthcare reform.

Question: What is your take on the state of our healthcare system? What do you envision for our system, and how do we get there from here? Can America really afford a public option plan?

Answer: Our system is in disarray. We need a system in which the American consumer has real choices, including allowing people under 65 to sign up for Medicare, which is what the public option will look like. That way people can get affordable insurance which can never be taken away, which can’t be denied, and which will follow them through every job, every loss of job, and every move. We can’t afford NOT to have a public option.

Question: How flexible is the public option: will a person be able to move between the public option and private options as their needs and circumstances change?

Answer: People will be able to move back and forth between the public option and private insurance plans as they see fit, up to once a year.

Question: Given your unique perspective as a physician, can you tell us one aspect of the public option that you like and one aspect that you might not be happy with?

Answer: As a physician I would sign up for the public option at once if it is cheaper than what I have now. I would definitely sign my twenty something kids up; it would give them insurance for life at a reasonable cost no matter what they were doing and where they were living.

Question: One of my nursing coworkers wanted me to ask you this question. How will healthcare reform impact nursing workforce issues? Will we see mandated caps on salaries, and how will healthcare reform impact nurse to patient ratios?

Answer: Workforce issues are not addressed in any of the health care options being discussed in Congress. Most Democrats I know favor nurse/patient staff ratios to protect quality of care.

Question: Preventative healthcare is a key component in the healthcare reform debate. What are your thoughts on a proposal that would make the Chief Nurse Officer of the United States Public Health Service the National Nurse? In your opinion, would establishing the Office of the National Nurse have any impact on health promotion or on healthcare reform?

Answer: As a lot of people know, I am a huge supporter of the Office of National Nurse, and since Congress has been slow to act, I am hoping some changes can be made directly by HHS while we await more complete action by Congress.

“The doctor will see you now.” I’m hoping to hear those golden words soon because I’m sitting in my primary care physician’s office on my day off from work. I’m lucky that I have a primary care physician who is still taking new patients. Did you know that a lot of primary care doctors are struggling to keep their doors open? That was just one of the issues that healthcare bloggers were talking about last week in Washington, D.C.

I was honored to receive an invitation to serve as the official Twitter Reporter for Better Health’s Putting Patients First event. The summit on healthcare reform took place last week at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. I sat under the Twitter Gallery sign (pictured above) during the conference. The experience was amazing, but I’d like to make two suggestions to the management of the National Press Club. First, please install more electric wall sockets in your building. There were no wall sockets to plug my computer into during the conference, so my battery almost went dead while I was tweeting. Next, please have Anderson Cooper onsite when I’m in the building. He’s hot.

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I was happy to finally get to meet the people behind the blogs that I read everyday. I met Kim from Emergiblog, Dr. Wes, DrRich, Dr.Rob, Dr.Kevin, and Better Health contributors Dr. Alan Dappen, Valerie Tinley, NP and Dr. James Herndon. I sat in the Twitter Gallery with Kerri Morrone Sparling from Six Until Me , Dr. Edwin Leap, and Evan Falchuk from See First Blog. I also got to meet Lisa Emrich from Brass and Ivory, and Duncan Cross. I think Kim was a knockout in her new Calvin Klein suit. Note to Fox News: You need to hire Kim as one of your Sunday morning talking heads. She has a lot of good ideas about healthcare reform and she looked right at home at the National Press Club. She also comes complete with her own professional wardrobe.

Every blogger expressed their personal viewpoint about healthcare reform at the conference. The bloggers were not told what to say, and I was not told what to tweet, or what comments to make before, during, or after the conference. We came to D.C. to add our voices to the healthcare debate. No, I didn’t agree with everything that I heard during the conference. I thought a lot of the information presented by the keynote speakers was bunk. I’m in favor of a public option healthcare reform bill, and I don’t like the disinformation being spread via partisan politics about this important issue. I get infuriated when members of Congress from both sides of the aisle play partisan politics while my patients languish in a healthcare system that’s literally killing them. I’m really very frustrated, and I’m just like everyone else in this country that wants to give our politicians a good swift kick in the butt. What gives me hope is seeing good people from both sides of this debate coming together at a healthcare blogger conference in Washington, D.C. Healthcare providers truly want to put patients first.

Washington, D.C. is full of politicians and lobbyists. These people are good at smoozing. That’s why they are politicians and lobbyists, but this week there’s another group of people coming to town. They are good at taking care of patients, and I can’t wait to meet them. Healthcare bloggers are coming to Washington, D.C.!

Better Health is sponsoring a discussion about health care reform at the National Press Club on July 17th from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Dr. Val Jones will serve as host. Keynote speakers for the event are Congressman Paul Ryan, Media Personality Rea Blakey, and Robert Goldberg, Ph.D., co-founder and vice president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest (CMPI).

My Blog Mother, Kim McAllister, from Emergiblog, along with other way cool A List bloggers are serving as panelists during the discussion. I’ll be sitting out in the audience, tweeting the event. Follow my tweets. I’ll keep you posted on what’s going on if you can’t attend the event. Promise!

You can find out more about the event here. Come learn more about healthcare reform and meet your favorite healthcare bloggers in DC.

Have you ever wondered what nurses do on their day off from work? Some nurses catch up on their housework. I’d rather go to a health care rally than chase dust bunnies under my bed. So would these ladies. Bertha, the lady on the left, is a friend of mine from work. The lady on the right is a doctor from Ohio that we met in Washington, DC. Her name is AJ. She and her husband drove to DC to attend the rally and to visit her congressman because she is sick and tired of seeing her patients suffer under our current health care system.

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Bertha and I bumped into AJ at a breakfast that SEIU sponsored, and she graciously invited me to chronicle her trip to Capitol Hill. She planned to visit her member of Congress, Steve Driehaus. Unfortunately Representative Driehaus wasn’t in his office when AJ and I dropped by, but we got to meet with one of his Legislative Correspondents. Meet Sarah McHugh. AJ also got a chance to chat with the Congressman’s Press Secretary, Tim Mulvey. AJ spoke from her heart about the current state of health care while Ms. McHugh and Mr. Mulvey listened intently. They said that they would pass AJ’s thoughts onto the Congressman.

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AJ, Bertha, and I attended a rally in Upper Senate Park after visiting Congressman Driehaus’ Office. This is Edie Falco, the actress who plays Nurse Jackie, giving a speech in support of health care reform. She’s in favor of the public option health plan. Edie said that she still remembers how scared she was when she didn’t have health insurance. She said she was always worried about how she was going to pay for medical care if she got sick and had to go see a doctor. Edie still has a lot of friends that don’t have health insurance, and that’s why she’s in favor of President Obama’s plan for health care reform. Go Edie! Maybe I’ll stop knocking her show now, even though I still think it stinks. Sorry, Edie.

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AJ, Bertha, and I went to a town hall meeting for nurses and doctors in DC after the rally. This is Doctor Howard Dean, the former Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Doctor Dean is also campaigning for health care reform. He, too, is a proponent of the public option health plan. Howard can fire up a crowd. You could feel the energy pulsating in the room. Doctors and nurses were sharing stories and ideas, and working together in an united front. It was awe-inspiring. I wished that the afternoon could have gone on forever.

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I urge all health care professions to join the cause to promote health care reform. Whatever you believe, get involved. Lawmakers need to hear your stories. They respect doctors and nurses. AJ took time out from her busy practice to come to DC. Call your member of Congress, or write them a letter. Let them know where you stand. Tell them you want the best for your patients.