My place of employment, like so many other health care facilities, had been struggling, trying to find innovative ways to balance the budgets to accommodate government cutbacks. By 1996, all options that did not impact directly on patient care or staffing levels appeared to have been exhausted. With little alternative, attention now turned to the issue of the facility's largest expense - nursing staff.
Nursing is the glue that holds our health care delivery system together.
We have the knowledge and expertise to decrease a patient's length of stay, decrease morbidity and improve patient outcomes. Without nurses, hospitals couldn't function. I believed passionately in this ideal and believed it was a view shared by one and all. I never felt that my career as a nurse would be considered anything but essential. For several years prior to 1996, the IV team, of which I was a member, had perceived itself to be on precarious ground.