Coffin corner

I read in my time magazine an article on the recent plane crash in the ocean. It was said they were flying in their "coffin corner". Too low, too slow. It sure gave me a creepy feeling and made me think about, what else, my job.

It is very hard for me to think about making money off people who are sick or injured, although I couldn't live without my paycheck. But the pressure is on when my health care organization sees fit to cut "corners" to save money in this bad economy.

This is our "coffin corner"-----

The first to be canceled or cut are the very people who save lives. Nurses.
The next are our clerks, who if they aren't around, the nurses left have to answer phones, put in orders, make calls for DR's. and answer call lights. (One less nurse out there taking care of patients)

We do not have a shortage of nurses in this country yet. We have them knocking on our door to be hired. There are no openings. Productivity, patient numbers, steers the need. What we have are older (45 to 60 year old nurses) however experienced and skillful, who are "flying lower and slower" than we used to.

Expected to do more with less, I struggle as a charge nurse to pick up where others need help and take care of my own patient load while staying prepared for the one coming in who may need all we have available to save their life. And that person deserves nothing less.

May we never be caught flying too slow, too low.

My daughter lost her pregnancy at 10 weeks. We all felt helpless and sad. At least we know she can get pregnant after her cancer battle. It seems the women in this family do best when we have something we can fight against. It is having to accept the things we cannot change that pisses us off.