Nurses associations, my very own arcade claw machine

(Insert Your State) Nurses Association

It seems that there isn’t any shortage of things to write about here at Innovative Nurse when it comes to fellow nurse Amanda Trujillo. Search Twitter for #NurseUp, and all of the amazing nurse bloggers out there (links below), that have kept you somewhat up to speed on the case of Amanda.

So, I was on Tweetchat this past Sunday with some of these amazing nurse bloggers, leaders, and entrepreneurs out there and the support is just off the hook (save that hook reference for a sec). I know we’re here for a bigger cause than Amanda. I just can’t believe it took something like this to bring us together. We’re here for the nursing profession, and in support of our ability to work collaboratively and to advocate for our patients. There are nursing professionals I’ve never even met that are pouring themselves into this cause with great vigor. Watch out because the energy behind this is unstoppable.

Out of all of this outpouring of support over the last week, and the collaborative work we’ve all done to elevate this cause, I quickly realized something during this most recent chat with some of my new colleagues. I felt like I was working at the hospital again and it’s National Nurses Week. Remember this?

“Hey everyone, great job. You made it through another year. To show you our gratitude, we’ve got some killer schwag for you. Wait, no pushing or shoving, everyone will get their branded (insert name of hospital here) beach towel, lunch bag, and pen light.”

Okay, so I digress for a moment as I really want to mention the obvious here regarding this particular story and our newly organized #NurseUp community here. Where are the nursing associations in all of this? You know, to those organizations that you pay your annual dues so that you can reap the benefits of being a member.

By the way, I got a nice bumper sticker.

Really? American Nurses Association, you’re spending upwards of a million plus a year lobbying, and contributing to…wait, what are you contributing to? Hey, really appreciate the discount on my cellphone bill, oh yeah, thanks for the 20% off those nursing books. What I’m most thanking you for is that discount on my professional liability insurance. I’ll sure need that since I can’t rely on any direct support from you if I need it.

So you might be asking how do I really feel? You know when you pass by one of those arcade claw machines and your kids are just relentless about you throwing your hard earned money into this thing hoping to get one of those stuffed animals? You get suckered in, and after a few bucks go into this machine with no success, you’re just praying that you’ll get that fake iPod® wedged in the corner behind the frog.

Of course you don’t need another digital music player. You’ve probably got the real thing at home, or your smartphone holds more songs than this thing does, but dammnit you’ll at least feel like you’ve gotten something for all of the money you’re dumping into this thing.

Twenty-five bucks later, and a Super Mario Brothers® stuffed toy, you feel defeated, and you’re out about fifty times what that doll costs to manufacture. The point I’m trying to make here is where is the support from the Arizona Nurses Association? What about on a national level? Amanda was fired for advocating for a patient, working within her scope of practice, and upholding the code of ethics found here at the American Nurses Association website. One of my fellow nurse bloggers out there, Mother Jones, RN, received a response back from the Arizona Nurses Association, which Amanda is a member of, and they’ve basically offered no support.

So, maybe I’m just better off taking those annual membership dues and just dumping them into my new love for Arcade style claw machines. I’ll probably get the same benefits. The pleasure of giving my hard earned money to something that gives me an inconsequential “prize.” It’s just another useless machine.

THANKS FOR THE BUMPER STICKER!

Better yet, I think I’ll just contribute to Amanda’s fight, and our cause to advance the nursing profession. #NurseUp.

Give

14 Comments

  1. AnnaMorrison on January 30, 2012 at 6:23 am

    innovativenurse Great article! Couldn’t have said it better myself. As for me, I will be withdrawing my membership to all national nursing associations this year and, instead, donating that money to Amanda’s fight….which is really the fight of every single nurse to do his or her job on behalf of the patient without fear of retaliation by financially-vested parties. #NurseUp



  2. innovativenurse on January 30, 2012 at 8:06 am

    icoachnurses Glad to be fighting the good fight with you sister. Here’s to not feeding the machine, and actually supporting nurses through our cause, our community. #NurseUp.



  3. NursesNetwork on January 30, 2012 at 11:57 am

    nurses_network So, agree with you! When these organizations get big, they seem to stop caring for the little guy…and it becomes all about the money….AGAIN. What they fail to realize is that when the word really gets out about their failure to actually support who they claim to support, the nurses that really care about their own will take their money elsewhere.

    Thank you for the opportunity to link our blog, and also to support Amanda.



  4. TheNerdyNurse on January 30, 2012 at 8:46 pm

    Thanks for helping with the cause. Amanda and nurses everywhere will benefit from all of our efforts!



  5. innovativenurse on January 30, 2012 at 10:52 pm

    thenerdynurse Thank you fellow nurse blogger for all of your support with this cause, and thank you nurses_network for weighing in on this issue and helping us extend our reach.

    #NurseUp



  6. kelrn24 on February 1, 2012 at 6:46 pm

    Spot on! Could not agree with you more! I have to admit, that I have never been a member of the ANA as I have never been sure of their intentions but can safely say I am glad that I never joined…great point about their code of ethics!!!



  7. Arizona’s attack on nurses: the Amanda Trujillo case goes viral - Three Sonorans on February 23, 2012 at 8:46 pm

    […] Nurses association, my very own arcade claw machine […]



  8. Scrubs Magazine: Arizona BON Keeps Trujillo Under Fire | Notes from the Nurses’ Station www.rncentral.com | Nurse Up! on March 27, 2012 at 10:33 pm

    […] Nurses associations, my very own arcade claw machine by Kevin Ross, January 29, 2012:”It seems that there isn’t any shortage of things to write about here at Innovative Nurse when it comes to fellow nurse Amanda Trujillo. Search Twitter for #NurseUp, and all of the amazing nurse bloggers out there (links below), that have kept you somewhat up to speed on the case of Amanda. So, I was on Tweetchat this past Sunday with some of these amazing nurse bloggers, leaders, and entrepreneurs out there and the support is just off the hook (save that hook reference for a sec). I know we’re here for a bigger cause than Amanda. I just can’t believe it took something like this to bring us together. We’re here for the nursing profession, and in support of our ability to work collaboratively and to advocate for our patients. There are nursing professionals I’ve never even met that are pouring themselves into this cause with great vigor. Watch out because the energy behind this is unstoppable.” http://innovativenurse.com/nurses-association-arcade-claw-machine/ […]



  9. Arizona Right to Fire, #Youtube, LoneProtestor, Another Banner Nurse, Career Almost Destroyed #nurseup #amandatrujillo | Nurse Up! on March 28, 2012 at 11:56 am

    […] Nurses associations, my very own arcade claw machine by Kevin Ross, January 29, 2012:”It seems that there isn’t any shortage of things to write about here at Innovative Nurse when it comes to fellow nurse Amanda Trujillo. Search Twitter for #NurseUp, and all of the amazing nurse bloggers out there (links below), that have kept you somewhat up to speed on the case of Amanda. So, I was on Tweetchat this past Sunday with some of these amazing nurse bloggers, leaders, and entrepreneurs out there and the support is just off the hook (save that hook reference for a sec). I know we’re here for a bigger cause than Amanda. I just can’t believe it took something like this to bring us together. We’re here for the nursing profession, and in support of our ability to work collaboratively and to advocate for our patients. There are nursing professionals I’ve never even met that are pouring themselves into this cause with great vigor. Watch out because the energy behind this is unstoppable.” http://innovativenurse.com/nurses-association-arcade-claw-machine/ […]



  10. #Georgia #Nurses, Could This Happen To You? Learn More Today or Risk Your License Tomorrow #nurseup #nursefriendly | Nurse Up! on March 28, 2012 at 10:05 pm

    […] Nurses associations, my very own arcade claw machine by Kevin Ross, January 29, 2012:”It seems that there isn’t any shortage of things to write about here at Innovative Nurse when it comes to fellow nurse Amanda Trujillo. Search Twitter for #NurseUp, and all of the amazing nurse bloggers out there (links below), that have kept you somewhat up to speed on the case of Amanda. So, I was on Tweetchat this past Sunday with some of these amazing nurse bloggers, leaders, and entrepreneurs out there and the support is just off the hook (save that hook reference for a sec). I know we’re here for a bigger cause than Amanda. I just can’t believe it took something like this to bring us together. We’re here for the nursing profession, and in support of our ability to work collaboratively and to advocate for our patients. There are nursing professionals I’ve never even met that are pouring themselves into this cause with great vigor. Watch out because the energy behind this is unstoppable.” […]



  11. nursefriendly on April 27, 2012 at 11:45 am

    Thank you @innovativenurse for following Amanda’s case, this is the latest.
    The War Against Amanda Trujillo, April 25, 2012, Mother Jones, RN, Nurse Ratched’s Place:”I still support Amanda Trujillo and some people who have read the allegations against Amanda have questioned my judgment. Frankly, I don’t believe these allegations because I personally know two other nurses who have been reported to their nursing boards by their former employers. One of my friends was reported to the BON after she spoke up about unsafe nursing practices at a shady nursing home, and the other was reported after he chastised hospital administration for placing psychiatric patients and staff in an unsafe environment. Their former employers cooked up all kinds of false allegations against my friends who are both stellar nurses. Their former employers crucified their character, but in the end they were both cleared of any wrongdoing by their respective state nursing boards. There is an escalating pattern of abuse as more unscrupulous employers are using nursing boards as the ultimate scare tactic to keep nurses “in their place. ” Amanda is just another victim of this ploy.” http://www.nurseratchedsplace.com/2012/04/the-war-against-amanda-trujillo/
     
     motherjonesrn @nursefriendly 



  12. nursefriendly on May 17, 2012 at 9:07 am

    Thank you @innovativenurse  for following Amanda’s NURSEINTERUPTED case, this is from her blog.
     
    The Moment of Impact: April 21, 2010: by #AmandaTrujillo, MSN, RN, #nurseup #nursefriendly #healthcare:”The day my life collided with something greater than I could ever wrap my head around in this lifetime…..I heard a quote recently that conveys the enormity of the year’s events…its message, perfection, but not in the way I would like to envision life perfected, the way I want it, the way I wanted it, the way I thought I had it…..in any case, I like this quote because it encompasses the past, the present, and the future all at once.”http://nurseinterupted.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/the-moment-of-impact-april-21-2010/
     
    The day that changed Amanda’s life forever. To follow her case and others, kindly visit http://www.nurseup.com @nursefriendly 



  13. nursefriendly on May 20, 2012 at 9:23 pm

    Thank you @innovativenurse  for following Amanda’s nurseinterupted  case, this is from TruthAboutNursing.org
     
    Fired for educating a patient? TruthAboutNursing.org, May 2012:”On February 1, the Phoenix CBS affiliate KPHO-TV ran a short but good item by Peter Busch about veteran local nurse Amanda Trujillo, who said she had been fired by Banner Del Webb Hospital and had a complaint filed against her with the state board of nursing because she had educated a patient about the risks of an upcoming surgery and scheduled a consult about hospice. A hospital spokesman reportedly said that “the doctor, ultimately, is the focal point that directs care for patients” and that “company policy” forbids nurses to order a case management consult. The report does not mention other accounts suggesting that these events were set in motion because the patient’s surgeon was displeased that the patient had decided against the surgery.” http://www.truthaboutnursing.org/news/2012/may/trujillo.html



  14. Tennessee State Nurses, Could This Happen To You? #nurseup | Nurse Up! on July 16, 2012 at 8:07 pm

    […] Nurses associations, my very own arcade claw machine by Kevin Ross, January 29, 2012:”It seems that there isn’t any shortage of things to write about here at Innovative Nurse when it comes to fellow nurse Amanda Trujillo. Search Twitter for #NurseUp, and all of the amazing nurse bloggers out there (links below), that have kept you somewhat up to speed on the case of Amanda. So, I was on Tweetchat this past Sunday with some of these amazing nurse bloggers, leaders, and entrepreneurs out there and the support is just off the hook (save that hook reference for a sec). I know we’re here for a bigger cause than Amanda. I just can’t believe it took something like this to bring us together. We’re here for the nursing profession, and in support of our ability to work collaboratively and to advocate for our patients. There are nursing professionals I’ve never even met that are pouring themselves into this cause with great vigor. Watch out because the energy behind this is unstoppable.” http://innovativenurse.com/nurses-association-arcade-claw-machine/ […]



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