Thanks for the reminder of how necessary nurses are
The letter written by Ken Kinsey is really important to me as my aunt and mother were both registered nurses trained at St. Agnes School of Nursing (“Nurses deserve our thanks and better pay,” March 9). My mother was one of the first two laywomen to be assigned as a hall supervisor. Nursing was very different in my mother’s era. Nurses wore white uniforms with starched bibs, collars and cuffs before the widespread use of air conditioning. They weren’t allowed to wear their uniforms in public, but you could spot them on the streetcar by the small case they carried, containing the uniform, which they would change into once arriving at the hospital for their 12-hour shift.
The idea of getting the patient moving after surgery or childbirth had not been developed, so bed rest was the order of the day. Ether was used for surgery, and there were no recovery rooms, so the patient would be returned to the hall or ward deathly sick, requiring heavy-duty nursing care. If you entered the hospital with pneumonia there was a very good chance that you would leave in a box.
The St. Agnes community was very tight. As a boy, we would visit the homes of doctors and nurses, or they would visit us. When I was growing up, few people had health insurance, so when you went to the doctor’s office you paid with cash or check. My Mother would administer B-12 shots to neighbors so they would not have to pay the doctor. In my era children got all the childhood diseases: chickenpox, measles, German measles, mumps and seasonal flu. It may be difficult for certain Republicans to understand, but the advent of vaccines has prevented the spread of these highly contagious diseases. Neighbors and friends would consult my mother about various ailments. Women would ask my mother to check their husbands’ hernias. As my mother would say, “they didn’t have anything she hadn’t seen before.” My mother’s bluntness would cause me to want to evaporate into thin air.
Several years ago, I was an outpatient at GBMC, and I received 44 radiation treatments for cancer. I was a reluctant patient as I have never liked ANYTHING medical. I must confess that I underwent a major change in my attitude. As Mr. Kinsey reported, the staff were so very positive and upbeat. Every single employee was very professional and extremely compassionate. I kept waiting for the bad egg to show up, but everyone was as close to perfect as I have ever seen. Strangely, I looked forward to seeing these very upbeat people. Excellent training helps already positive people shine.
There are problems for nursing in the future. The ongoing pandemic has taken a toll on the nursing staff, not just here, but in other countries as well. An aging population, coupled with a declining birthrate, spells big trouble. Nurses have never been paid well as they are in what has been a female-dominated profession. We still don’t pay women a fair salary. We should reduce the outrageous salaries of hospital CEOs and other administrators. If we don’t raise salaries, recruitment efforts will be useless. Obviously, this is an issue that needs immediate governmental intervention. We need to train many more nurses. During the pandemic we have seen many immigrants taking excellent care of us. We need more immigrants in medicine and nursing. We should welcome them with open arms.
Thanks to Mr. Kinsey for reminding us of how necessary nurses are. We need to advocate for better pay and more active recruitment. We have no time to waste.
— Edward McCarey McDonnell, Baltimore