Ebola is the last straw

I have been a nurse for more than 13 years. There are physical ailments that are common to nursing due the toll of caring for those in our care. The most commonly we talk about nurses bladder.

Nurses work for long hours without breaks, even to empty our bladders. We ignore the urge to void and over time the abuse damages the bladder. When a person ignores a bodily function it quits working. Without the knowledge that your bladder is full, your full bladder just empty. This phenomenon happens so often in nurses, they call it nurses bladder.
Another issue nurses experience every day is aching feet. Ask any working nurse and she will tell you good shoes are a must. But is can get more serious than achy feet. Nurses get hit and kicked while working. Nurses are injured on the job more often than police officers!
Nina Pham has had enough. She is suing Texas Health Resources which owns Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. She claims that the equipment she was provided what not adequate. She is absolutely correct, you can read my feeling about that here. But, risks to the health of nurses is not limited to exposure to diseases from West Africa. Everyday nurses are working without the tools they need to protect themselves.  Pham claims to have hair loss, nightmares and body aches.

Pham will probably settle her lawsuit out of court to prevent embarrassment for Texas Health. She will probably receive enough money that she will not work as a nurse again.  While I have no doubt that Pham will have physical ailments the rest of her life, who advocates for the nurse with everyday ailments?






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