Senator Says Nurses Don’t Need Breaks As They Spend Most Of The Day Playing Cards, Nurses Respond With Sarcastic Pics
Republican state senator Maureen Walsh is in for a wild ride. The lawmaker came under fire after saying that nurses in smaller hospitals “probably play cards for a considerable amount of the day” during a debate about legislation that would provide nurses with uninterrupted meal and rest periods.
Senator Maureen Walsh is facing backlash after she said that nurses in smaller hospitals “probably play cards for a considerable amount of the day”
Image credits: maureenwalsh
She opposed the legislation, saying it “does not apply” to districts like hers with many critical access hospitals, which have fewer than 25 beds.
It didn’t take long for people to point out that her words didn’t match reality
Image credits: imgur
Image credits: BrianSpyros
Image credits: jenny_kimura
Image credits: NurseRec
Image credits: hannahmernst
Image credits: SanguineSangria
Outraged by Walsh’s comments, nurses and everyone who sympathize with them started reacting. Chicago nurse Juliana Bindas even created an online petition Saturday that calls on Walsh to shadow a nurse for a 12-hour shift. As of this article, over 764,000 people have signed it. Many of them showed their outrage on social media as well.
One of the outraged nurses wrote this public letter to the senator
The public reaction has made Walsh reconsider her stance. “I want to offer my heartfelt apologies to those I offended with my comments on the Senate floor last Tuesday,” she said in a statement. “I was tired, and in the heat of argument on the Senate floor, I said some things about nurses that were taken out of context – but still they crossed the line.”
The lawmaker said she was trying to make the point that many small hospitals already face financial problems and that the bill would only make them worse.
But that didn’t stop there and people continued to flood social media with their reactions
Image credits: durallweddingortho
Image credits: thatcrunchymomlyfe
Image credits: marymargaret175
Image credits: Kasiopi
Image credits: thessamd08
Image credits: rnrecruiter
Image credits: prettylittlescrubsociety
Image credits: republicofkate
Image credits: zacharyzombie
According to USA TODAY, The Washington State Nurses Association website crashed on Friday after too many people viewed a blog post describing Walsh’s comments as disrespectful and patronizing.
Also, the state nursing association said recruiting nurses to rural hospitals is already challenging. The organization believes that denying them uninterrupted breaks and imposing mandatory overtime would further complicate the hiring process.
Image credits: hello_amanda
Walsh was arguing in support of an amendment that would exempt rural and smaller hospitals from a bill that would guarantee uninterrupted breaks for nurses. She had also introduced another amendment to the bill that would prohibit nurses from working more than 8 hours in a 24-hour period. On Tuesday, the Senate passed the bill with both amendments included. Walsh voted against the bill.
Image credits: nursesplaycards
Image credits: CardiologyLm
Image credits: nurseJulieG
Image credits: HannahLeshinski
Image credits: DancingDoctor4
Image credits: MadelynPoer
And as for the petition, Walsh said she’d be happy to see how the job is actually done. “I love my nurses,” she told KOMO. “I’d be happy to come and work in a hospital with them for a while and shadow them and see their job.”
Senator Says Nurses Don’t Need Breaks As They Spend Most Of The Day Playing Cards, Nurses Respond With Sarcastic Pics
Reviewed by CUZZ BLUE
on
April 25, 2019
Rating:
No comments: