2 posts tagged “kids”
I just learned from an old co-worker that the children's inpatient mental health unit I used to work at closed last week. The most vulnerable members of our community here in Minneapolis and around the country have lost funding in this sector of health care while virtually every other aspect of health care has become more profitable. It's amazing to me that the general public doesn't realize the cost benefit of keeping children who have been dealt a bad hand in a biological, psychological, or social way that makes them vulnerable to injuring themselves or vulnerable to taking out their frustration or poor social skills out on other children. makes me sick. yeah, let's cut funding to the most vulnerable and ill represented group in our society because there's no f'n money in it...un-f'n-believable.
for the RN program...
what a day. It started off on the wrong foot. The nurse who was scheduled to work with me decided that he wanted nothing to do with me and that I needed to talk to my instructor to find another patient assignment with a nurse who I could work with. He asked me if I had a plan for the day. I told him that I hadn't had a clinical day for over 5 months so I was expecting to begin the day be shadowing what he was going to do with the patient. It was then that he decided to have nothing to do with me...he seemed like a good guy who had a lot on his mind, he was late, he had two students, he had a physical therapy appointment that he needed someone to cover for during his shift...he seemed overwhelmed and basically took it out on me because it seemed as if I was completely not interested. Which, if anyone reading this knows me well enough, my first impression can be way different in a bad way compared to what I'm actually thinking or who I am as a person. I realize that, but that's just the way it is for me...I overanalyze too soon so in the end I pay attention to all the ins and outs of what it is that I'm doing. This basically applies to my daily life at work, school, work, or free time (what the hell is free time?). For example, I have the urge to take every single road heading off into the distance especially when I'm driving through the mountains. It's probably worthwhile 1 out of 100 times...but, it's that one that totally makes it all worth it...a backwoods waterfall/ice climb, a hot spring, an insane view, a crazy cliff, an old plane crash, a crazy homemade maple syrup maker...
soo...what do you think is going through my head when I walk onto a pediatric I.C.U. for the first time? my mind is all over the damn place.
Today, I had the chance to take care of a shooting victim, which has always been a dream of mine. This just may have been my only chance to do this for years if ever...call me crazy. I am a bit crazy.
the last thing I wanted to do was lose the chance to take care of a 16 yr old drive by shooting victim! So, I later came up with a plan and the nurse helping me out turned out to be a good guy.
So, I got started...he needed plenty of help. I had a great time doing it. It was exciting. He seemed like a good kid who is tied up in the wrong atmosphere...he'll be fine physically. His buddy was in the next room over. His prognosis: not as good. earlier this summer? two of their buddies killed in the same type of deal...a social nightmare...anyone out there think it's "too expensive" to help kids whose families can't or won't help their kids themselves? try paying for the surgeries, treatments, and cares of these two kids. I'd say it's probably around $10k/day for at least a month unless the treatment is never ending, which it usually never is. well, we do pay for them out of our own pockets "disirregardless"...but it sure as hell isn't preventative...so frustrating...so preventable. more murders in this country than any country in the world? a social nightmare...
Starting a preventative war in Iraq based on lies...we as a nation will pay the consequences of our leaders whether we like it or not sooner or later...makes me absolutely furious. We have way way too much to take care of at home first. According to the F.B.I. in 1991 we had about 15,000 murders...one year...15,000 per year! 15,000 PER YEAR! Close to 17,000 murders in 2005!!! murder rates on back on the rise. About half of the victims are white and about half are black...about 2% are other ethnicities. how many americans murdered since 9/11/01? about 80,000!!! about 80,000!!! 80,000!!! NUMBER OF VICTIMS OF MURDERS AS A RESULT OF TERRORISTS IN THE U.S. SINCE 9/11????? about 3,000... about the same as in 2001...yes, we're doing a fine job of preventing another terrorist attack in the u.s. But, that's not considering the number of deaths in Iraq...and again, that's not a result of terrorism if we're at war, is it? I don't think so...war kind of gives the people, including terrorists, a license to kill, does it not? hmmm, a global war on terror...my thought is that pretty much gives any terrorist the license to kill since we're already at war! Just another casualty of war. We need to get out of Iraq and back to the U.S. There's one exception to that plan from my perspective. If the Iraq "controversy" is not supported by other nations of the world.........
I'm done. All I have to say is "innocent kids...they deserve better."
I get fired up about this one and I hope you do, too.
