Senseless

As a parent of 3+3, and as a Nurse of thousands, I am shocked, appalled, and deeply saddened by the recent death of innocent's at Sandy Hook School, in Connecticut. There is no such thing as closure, to those directly affected..........but sadly, we will hear that term bandied about in days to come. There is merely recovery, and moving on. That is what one does, when your child or loved one is abruptly taken away.

Not being one who is directly involved, but only a person over-inundated with what we pass as "news reporting", I must speak out in the way I know how.......and I will continue in this theme for the week.

Senseless

Another day of tragedy
East Coast, West Coast
And in between,
Horrific stories
Rapidly unfolding
One more bloody
Media scene.

NPR, jumps on it
"Substitute all our programming today",
The sad and somber music
Appears so scripted and ready to play,
And I wonder, are we so inured
To the senseless tragedies
That unfold, with such regularity,
That even NPR
Already has a musical score
To accommodate solace and clarity.
;
12/14/12
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Children

Children, as reporters
Of tragedy
In the aftermath,
Victims of media
Those vultures
Of a bloody bath.....

Children, the innocent
Victims
Of disaster,
Reporters will
Rape their souls
To collect the news, so much faster.

"How did you feel
Were you frightened
And scared?",
"The monster
Was hunting us
I wondered, would we be spared"............

But these are not the words
That a six year old speaks,
No, he was prompted by adults
Who are media freaks.

Six year old children recorded
On YouTube and Twitter,
Their words and faces remembered
Amidst the gore and the glitter,
Of newsworthy lights
And Connecticut mayhem,
Stored on distant massive servers
In society's brain stem.

What are we creating
With our instant-news mentality?
Just more photo-op disasters
And some over-the-top fatality.

Children as reporters?
In of itself, a style of crime,
They need love within a cocoon
Not celebrity and prime-time.

12/15/12
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Days of Mourning

Days of mourning
A nation at a standstill,
Soul searching silence
Like ghosts in a landfill,
Wondering, "Why are we here
Amidst garbage and decay?",
These are the ways of guns
And their time-fuse delay.

Bought for protection
Purchased for fun,
Even I do remember
Being in the woods with a gun,
But now, as an adult
I'm aware of their danger,
Held in the hands
Of an unpredictable stranger.

Just who is unpredictable?
That is the crux,
What should be done about it?
Answers that would fill trucks.

There is no pure solution
Our Constitution allows,
For each and every one of us
To bear guns and not plows,
As crazy as that might seem
The 2nd Amendment, declares it so,
A guarantee for times of mourning
And burying on the plateau.

Odarepsed;
12/16/12
_ _ _ _ _ _ _

Eulogies

Eulogies for the children
And the school staff, who died trying,
Moved me to tears
Like my own family dying,
In essence, this truth
Is one I wish to embrace,
Children and their teachers
In innocence, show their face.

Innocence, what is it?
'Tis but, purity in action,
Surrounded by complexity
Where innately, those distractions,
Cloud our vision and purpose
Till our children show the way,
Innocence is their guiding light
Let's not forget this precious day.

Odarepsed;
12/17/12

Mandates

I couldn't make this one rhyme; just consider it prose.

Staff Mandates

This week at work we are advised of the new policy regarding the recording of IV Infusion Start and End Times:

1.) Safe Patient Care Mandates That We Document Our IV Infusion Times.

**: This is confusing to me, as it is not clear whether "mandate" is being used as a verb or a noun. Is "Safe Patient Care", in of itself, the name of some policy, or what? It seems to me, there might be some important punctuation missing in the above statement; perhaps a comma after Care.........who knows?

2.) In Order To Receive Payment And Credit For What We Do, IV Start and Stop Times Must Be Documented.

**Ah, now I'm less confused. This memorandum is less about safe patient care, and more about BILLING. And we sure know by now, that Billing is a true reflection of safe care, right? (hardly). In other words, we take your money and now you are safer? Furthermore, this suggests that our patients are less safe, if we didn't document, and more safe, if we Bill them.

3.) We Are Currently Losing > $1 million dollars in Revenue, Per Year, By Not Documenting Our Stop Times.

**Further proof, that this policy is not about safety and patient care; it is all about the Revenue.



Mandate:

• noun:   the commission that is given to a government and its policies through an electoral victory
• noun:  an authoritative command; especially : a formal order from a superior court or official to an inferior one.
• noun:  a document giving an official instruction or command
• verb:   assign authority to
• verb:   make mandatory

Fibril_late;
12/15/12

Morale

I was trying to read the latest monthly satisfaction scores, posted on the wall in our break-room, but it was like Greek to me; too many acronyms, avatars, percentages and mumbo-jumbo. Who cares anyways? The "boss" (who?) always highlights with a yellow maker, the score that shows how we're screwing up. Boy, that sure is encouraging isn't it? What a morale booster!

Morale

Medicare won't pay us
Because you didn't smile,
Mrs. Smith said you were grumpy
When you were wiping her piles,
Because it just doesn't matter
That we cured her Leprous sores,
Reimbursement rules hospitals
With satisfaction scores.

Medicare won't pay us?
Quite naturally, our Chief,
Knows his bonus is in question
Along with the Chardonnay and beef,
Anxious and worried
He sends out letters forewarning,
Let's improve those satisfaction scores
Or careers will be in mourning.

With numbers to guide us
One might think we'd be the best,
But personally, I don't understand
The breakdown of the test,
Percentages and Avatars
Of statistical reporting,
After sniffing at the details
I'm left sneezing and snorting.

How is it good for morale
To keep reporting how we fail?
Highlighting the low scores
This news, soon goes stale,
It might be better to emphasize
All those things we do best,
Proud and happy warriors
Work stronger towards their quest.

I know this represents
A paradigm shift,
And it's obvious that health-care
Hasn't adjusted to the drift,
Where employees are honored
Each and every day,
Instead they threaten and bully us
And it just doesn't play.

Most certainly unwanted
Reprimands and scolding,
Reminders of our failures
Praise and bonuses, withholding,
Telling us, that we're the cause
Of reimbursement losses,
No, our highly paid leaders
Just aren't the best bosses.

Medicare won't pay us?
I don't give a damn,
But I'll do the best in my job
Because that's who I am.

Fibril_late;
12/09/12

Streamline

Editorial:

Streamline

Sustain our Mission
That's what the CEO says,
Celebrated by streamlining reductions
Please take a complimentary PEZ,
On your way out the door
We'll miss you, Honey-Pie,
Have your family send us a memo
When you shrivel up and die.

Employees are expensive
Cull the ones that are trouble-makers,
Keep the ones who generate income
The movers and shakers,
Those young Nurses
Friendly, attractive and skilled,
Sell them on our family value benefits
Family-leave, a free car-seat; they'll be thrilled.

Retire the old curmudgeons
Yes, anyone over fifty,
With twenty years in health-care
They are unpredictable and shifty,
Troublemakers, each one of them
They could rip us to shreds,
Sending letters to the local news
Regarding short-sheeting our beds.

The takeaway message as always; trim the sails
Tighten our belts, let's get more efficient,
Always spoken by the man in the pulpit
The guy at the top, he's omniscient,
With a compensation package
Pushing nine million, well-paid leader,
Urging austerity with a twinkle in his eye
Light some candles; burn the incense and cedar.

Fibril_late;
12/2/12