LuAnn Shaw: Nurses have long been under-appreciated, underpaid

To The Daily Sun,

I am a nurse and would like to address the people who are reluctant to increase the wages of registered nurses and licensed nursing assistants at the Belknap County Nursing Home.

If you have never zipped multiple body bags in one shift, you shouldn’t be deciding how much nurses make.

If you have never watched a person suffocate to death from their own blood, you shouldn’t be deciding how much nurses make.

If you have never been punched in the face for trying to assess your patient, you shouldn’t be deciding how much nurses make.

If you have never had someone beg you not to let them die, you shouldn’t be deciding how much nurses make.

If you have never had to look into a family member's eyes when the doctor calls the time of death of their loved one, you shouldn’t be deciding how much nurses make.

If you have never told your family your shift was “fine” to spare them from what you saw that day, you shouldn’t be deciding how much nurses make.

If you have never felt ribs breaking from doing CPR on someone’s frail grandmother, you shouldn’t be deciding how much nurses make.

For years nurses have been underpaid and undervalued and no one seemed to care. Now that health care is on the brink of a collapse, everyone is concerned that nurses are making too much. Instead of focusing on our salaries, let’s shift gears and focus on why nurses are leaving. Perhaps it’s from the years of getting 1% raises and barely being able to pay the bills. Maybe it’s because nurses are asked to do more and more with less. Maybe it’s from the terrible staffing ratios. Maybe it's because we are forced to work extra shifts every day. The reasons are endless.

LuAnn Shaw

Laconia