A Call For Nurses to Unite: 2020 Year of the Nurse

This war maybe against the virus, but in reality this challenge is ultimately one that tests our character and how as humans, we can forgo our differences, and work as a collective whole in addressing the hurdle the each day brings.

Already, we have reacted by panic buying. Some are hoarding with the idea to sell and gouge. How about those who cannot afford the basic necessities to survive? Many will be losing their jobs, and the impending economic recession will just worsen access to basic needs. Then, violence? All these events, is actually a challenge to how we react to situations we and others we are in and how we can come together for a bigger purpose.

At the local government level, if organizations haven't done it yet, let us all think ahead and create strategies in place to budget our resources so that we can conserve, store and distribute it wisely. Let us account for everyone, perhaps use the state census. Let us not wait for the last minute and wait for actions from Federal government. Let us not be reactive about this. We do not know how long this will last. I am not an expert on economic budgeting nor I am connected with local government, but I am reaching out to my friends in Clark County, Nevada, as well as at LinkedIn, in the medical field, first responders, etc. Let us plan ahead and work as a collective whole and make sure everyone in our state or even just in our communities will be taken cared of instead of just panic buying. Let us work with local businesses and create a plan. If we do not do this, humanity will ultimately lose in the end. We shouldn't have to.

A food distribution center, where everyone is accounted for, all our resources pooled together and as we socially distance ourselves from each other, and ultimately we may have to close our counties from people coming and going. I know that this is far off, but we have to think ahead, otherwise there will be chaos. Chaos, is what is expected of us and we are far better than that! We have many athletes who are now at home who are sitting doing nothing. Mobilize them to deliver food to the vulnerable. We cannot allow our society to be crippled.

Our strategies should be at a state or county level because the current system is overwhelmed, perhaps, focused on elections.

My Personal Challenge

Yesterday, my son and I finally got home after an intended "2 day packing out of the dorm, saying goodbye and fly back to Vegas trip." The trip became an ordeal of my son grieving (griping) about him just starting the semester and already leaving his friends and classmates, not being able to play baseball, and ofcourse the dilemma of where to store his few but prized possessions. Then our flight from Midway was cancelled, the debate of whether waiting for another flight in the AM, (which we were booked while at the airport), or renting a car and driving the 1, 750 miles back to Vegas, and maybe a hotel tonight just to rest after dragging 4 heavy bags throughout the airport. Wednesday morning, flights were cancelled again by Southwest, so I drove and drove and drove until my glutes became non existent, numb. The few stops we made was in a convenience store where I thought we should stock up with water and enough food to get us back home. Funny convenience stores have stockpiles of water being sold for $10.00. But we got some and stocked them in our car.

?

We got to Omaha Wednesday afteroom. We decided together that we will rest overnight before making the drive Denver. Well, I can't see at night,

While relaxing in a hotel that was generously provided by my significant other, we decided to look into flights from Omaha to Vegas. I was able to have our cancelled tickets credited and after paying 60 bucks we got a reservation for a flight back to Vegas Thursday.AMvia Southwest airlines. Then over an overpriced, UberEats delivered dinner we heard that there was a huge storm coming to the Midwest. I cannot sleep and yes, my morning started early to return my rental hoping to get a refund. Came to the Omaha airport only to find out that our flight was cancelled and we were rerouted to Denver. In Denver, after a bumpy ride, we came to another cancelled flight and were placed in another. While relaxing at the gate I saw that there were only 3 people waiting which alarmed me. I heard a page for passengers, a last call to Vegas. Running to the counter, I found out that the flight we were on was again cancelled. Needless to say, I begged the lady to get us on the flight that was already boarded. The flight we were on was the last flight from Denver to Vegas that day. Needless to say, after being told to have my son man-up, and figure things out on his own, I could not just continue on being the nurse that I want to be if my son was still in Chicago trying to figure out how to get home. Im glad that my profession allowed me to have the meager funds to by tickets, rent a car and buy food during a trip that was full of unexpected twists and turns. I was so lucky to have Kevin, an air B and B owner who had me stay in his rental for free, Dave who got me a hotel room in Omaha, my cousin who offered his storage for my son. Debbie, Matt's mom (my son's roommate) who is housing my son's luggage and of course my son's teammates whose baseball house hold the bulk of my sons food supplies and equipment. I hope that they dig through those chips and soup when the situation calls for it. After a long cry in private, I can now start going back to being a nurse and advocate for my patients.

Professional Challenge

In Las Vegas, nany are already suffering from financial/economic downfall with the business standstill. It will get worse. Many will become traumatized, anxious, depressed and think of self harm. Many will follow the path of violence so that families will have access to food...maybe even martial law can be declared. Agile thinking is being able to think ahead and strategize toward the what if's and then...We need a psychiatric hospital, we need transitional housing, we need food for the homeless, we need to mobilize the young athletes that we have sitting around in shock, not knowing what just hit them.

Technology and social media is here for all of us to use to work as a WHOLE, as a strong community of healthcare professionals who as a group can demand for resources that we need to help people in this crisis. We have to identify leaders in our communities and states to be our voice. Why? Because after everything and everyone has crawled into seclusion, we are still here with our first responder brothers and sisters, the health care team and the community worker bees that are needed to sacrifice their lives so communities will survive, so that humanity will have a future. It is the time to demand from our patients the support to help us, so we can continue our work to help them. We, nurses have to come up with laws to protect us and our families while we are in the frontline of this battle.

As my friend Michelle and I are knocking on everyone's door to listen to our theory for the prevention and treatment of the virus, and I work on writing an article on the prevention of Nurse suicide, and return to the ER, I on behalf on the hundreds of thousands of my nurse colleagues who are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, aunts, uncles, call on everyone, our customers, patients, our employers to hear us when we speak. We do not speak out of want, but we speak out of NEED. We may not be able to write the best proposals, or present like the best scientists, or create a business plan like the best MBA but we have ideas that can help the world. So please lend us an ear!