Unmasked

Although I'm no longer working ICU and I'm not in the hospital, I'm still capable of being totally ticked off at the ridiculous decisions that hospital managers and administrators make. Case in point, are the directives that Nurses are not allowed to have the necessary PPE to protect themselves. I recall working in ICU's in the Los Angeles area during the early acute phase of the Aids epidemic. This was when the transmission of disease was poorly understood, and it was unclear if it included airborne precautions. Thus, we wore the similar garb as is recommended for COVID; except, it wasn't rationed.

Regarding certain hospitals sending Nurses off the job, because they voiced complaints of unsafe work conditions.


Working at a hospital
That disallows masks,
N-95 for the most
Dangerous of tasks,
For those nurses who work
Placing their lives on the line,
They should be replaced by administrators
And see if they like it fine.

I worked at that hospital
Back in 1985,
I guess if it was last month
I might not be alive,
And around that time
It was the AIDS epidemic,
We had to garb up like moonmen
Just like this pandemic.

The masks were not rationed
Nor any of that other stuff,
The infection was a mystery
Nobody knew enough,
Until later on
We learned it wasn’t airborne,
Then the nurses relaxed
And went back to making popcorn.

There was a subtle fear
Of mystery and the unknown,
I think our hospital administrators
Would shit a brick if they were alone,
At the bedside
In today’s COVID ICU,
Heck, every nurse should grab one of those fools
And show them what to do.

Of course, it might take two nurses
One on each arm,
Dragging Edmundo
Into the arena of harm;
Don’t let him wear a mask
As he accompanies you,
During the next emergent intubation
I’m sure he’ll lend a hand too.

I’m pretty certain
This method would be effective,
To change administrators minds
They might be a little more protective,
Regarding the well-being
Of every employee and caregiver,
If this doesn’t work
Send them up the river.

https://fox5sandiego.com/news/coronavirus/socal-nurses-suspended-for-refusing-to-care-for-covid-19-patients-without-n95-masks/