Pam Robbins has watched the world change from inside a hospital. In my 20 years on the job, I've seen the focus of health care go from good patient outcomes to making money. Every problem you'll hear about, from me or any other nurse in the country, comes down to dollar signs. Robbins unleashes her list of charges, and they fly furiously from her mouth, as if an actual patient's life turned on whether she could spit them out before someone had the chance to hang up on her. Hospital patients are being admitted sicker and are discharged quicker than at any time in modern nursing history.
Nursing staffs are too thin.
Nurses don't have the chance to do what they were really trained to do. They apologize for ringing the nurse's bell, feel embarrassed to intrude on her hectic schedule. It was in kindergarten, too, that Michelle realized that she wanted to become a nurse. Fifteen years later, Michelle's friends have abandoned their ballerina and astronaut dreams. But Michelle never stopped needing to be a nurse.