Blog: Why are US military nurses being moved from Walter Reed to Iraq?

[rainbow4321]

http://www.margieburns.com/blog/_archives/2005/2/14/324283.html


Bad news, it looks like: about 35 nurses from different branches of the service now working at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, are being told they have 30 days to get their affairs in order. Next stop, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for about 5 weeks. Then it’s on to Iraq. The exact destination in Iraq is not stated, but they’re being assigned to field hospitals. Whatever the destination, it’s serious enough that female nurses are getting buzz cuts.


The 35 or so nurses being shipped out are the equivalent of “one floor” of round-the-clock shifts at Walter Reed, all of whom have heavy-duty experience in the shock trauma unit or the burns ward. Apparently all or most of them, in other words, are experienced in trauma. However, some at least are civilian nurses who joined the military for the steady job and were guaranteed four full years at Walter Reed, who still have most of that time left to serve. The need for nurses in the service is dire. A number of the nurses previously serving in Germany had their stints involuntarily extended and consequently decided not to re-up when their time to sign came back around.

One immediate question is why. The optimistic view, if one could call it that, is that this relocation is a practical reorganization of medical personnel, sending nurses where they’re most needed. It seems a bit odd that they’re not being sent to Germany, though, if so, since that’s where the state-of-the-art critical care facilities are.


The more sinister possibility is that this is one early warning sign of some new deviltry planned for Iraq by the White House. The quietness and abruptness of the move do not inspire confidence, though admittedly the quietness and abruptness could be a political response to a worsening combat situation that the White House will not acknowledge.

[libodem]

1. back-door draft

life sucks

[NEOBuckeye]

3. Exactly why I would avoid anything remotely military duty at all cost

I'm sure the civilian nurses who joined were just looking for jobs, probably thinking that winding up in Iraq would be the least of their worries. And yet, here it is, staring them right in the face.

Most people never thought things would get this bad. But it's going to get a lot worse.

[Warpy]

2. They'll sell their special skills draft by howling about the lack

of nurses available to treat our brave boys in uniform.

Nurses in combat areas burn out really fast. They need to be rotated out very frequently. I'm not surprised that nurses who thought they'd have an assured stateside job are all being told surprise! next stop is Iraqnam.

The fact that the national guard nurses being sucked out of the hospital system is already worsening a nursing shortage that is already at crisis levels won't penetrate this bunch. They probably think hospitals can be run like WalMart, and that anybody brought in off the street can be trained to do everything nurses do in a couple of weeks or so.

This one will be interesting to watch, that's for sure.

[rainbow4321]

6. Has me cringing already...

as an RN this scares the shit out of me..ok, so I am 40 y/o but that little blip in small print, well hidden, on the Selective Service webpage that talks about the medical draft...the part that says the cut off age is 44 worries me. And the part that says since nurses would already have the needed skills they would need only "minimal training"..yeah, minimal training, and what would THAT involve??

This should have been enough to have all medical people vote chimp OUT of office. Instead, whenever I would mention it to my 20-something yr old co-workers they would just give me a blank look and not show much interest. I worked w/ a nurse who had worked for the VA hospital system at some point in her career and she told me <paraphrased> "they will pull from the VA hospitals' group of nurses and have them be the first to go over there and then go after civilian nurses". Looks like the first step is happening now.

Our floor consistantly runs 2-4 nurses short each night...I've learned it's best not to even ask how many we are short, it just makes me feel even more miserable and tired. If chimp starts to dip into the civilian nurse population, we may be saying "hey, remember the GOOD nights when we were "only" short 4 nurses??".

[KissMeKate]

9. your nursing credentials are good in canada, england, ireland, sweden,

france, australia, south africa, and other countries.

I am seriously considering leaving if there is a medical skills draft.

[rainbow4321]

10. Yeah, remember when nurses WANTED to come here?

They were flocking here from the UK, India, Canada, Phillipines?? Now WE are all going to wanting one way tickets to THOSE places just to escape chimp's ongoing invasions/wars. At least someone will benefit from all this..the countries I listed wouldn't have a nursing shortage anymore!

[MADem]

29. MINIMAL TRAINING--let me tell ya what it means!!!

It is eight to twelve short weeks, or even less, depending on service, in an Officer Indoctrination Training Course. You learn the paygrades, the chain of command, basic military courtesies, how to wear the uniform, how to salute, pay and personnel information (how you get paid, when you get paid, how much you get paid, what to do if you don't get paid--all this helps you with the next bit I will tell you about); subordinate management--how to counsel subordinates, what to do if you don't know what to tell them, what the various departments do in the command you can expect to be assigned to.... if you want me to go on, I can. I'm all too familiar with this stuff.

In terms of actual NURSING, they'll establish that shit before you even start your OIT. You will be qualified before you are co-opted. You may get the odd lecture or two talking about the protocols used in your given service (it is very PURPLE at this point, i.e., all services are singing from pretty much the same sheet of music)....but your focus will be presenting a military appearance, not screwing anyone of inappropriate paygrade (no, I am not kidding), and adhering to military protocols WRT nursing.

It takes a special person to do that work. They have it GREAT in peacetime, and they get screwed in wartime. Like most of us....!!!!

[UL_Approved]

4. Is there more to this than troop movement?

I wonder if this indicates that our casualties are a lot higher than what is reported.

It is always a good idea to look into stories like this further...

[rainbow4321]

7. Here is a blog entry from a Walter Reed nurse

Found it googling after reading that initial blog entry that I found, scroll a bit down the link:

http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/ANatWR.html

I am an Army Nurse Corps Captain stationed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in Washington D.C., and I feel compelled to share with anyone who will listen what I have seen. You see, when OIF troops are evac'd out of Germany, the huge majority are brought here to WRAMC by the Air Force flight nurses and docs.

I do not have access to any of the numbers of how many wounded and what types of injuries, etc, but I can honestly tell you that the OIF wounded occupy more than half of our two major intensive care units (SICU and MICU) at any given time. At times, we get so full and are expecting more to arrive, that we have to hound the docs to transfer somebody out of our unit to a ward upstairs so we have some beds for these soldiers.

Anyway, the following is my main point in reaching out to you. As you might be aware, the press is being tightly controlled and what is being reported from a medical standpoint is only a fraction of the true reality. Yes, I do believe the daily number of killed that CNN and whoever report is accurate. What I am saying is that the walking wounded are being sorely ignored. Don't believe me? Walter Reed is an open base, not a tightly controlled fort. Just have a valid ID and consent to a vehicle search. Then park, and walk inside. You will see so many 20-something mostly men missing arms, legs, and eyes.

The blinders covering your eyes will be ripped away as you see the poor families making their daily walk from the Malogne house to the wards and units to see their son's or husbands. It is so sad to see young wives and fiancee's cry over their honey who was in Iraq less than one month before losing both legs and have several abdominal surgeries which leaves his belly crisscrossed with staples, and now he is fighting for his life from the infection that the injuries have caused.

[SpiralHawk]

14. All this carnage for a war based on lies

Lies told by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rice.

They lied to the US public, and now our sons and daughters are getting ripped to shreds each day with the false belief that they are doing something noble and patriotic, rather than just serving the power-mad impulses of the BushCo oil oligarchy.

[opihimoimoi]

5. Vote for a LOLO and recieve LOLO decisions/results/higher misery

levels, higher living expenses, longer work loads, and harder too. Bush has not been a good leader

He is not thinking for the 97 % ers.....only his 3% gang....

[KissMeKate]

8. Navy medical teams have been in Iraq for a while now-

this is why a skills/ medical draft is coming. The nursing shortage is real, and they are having to import navy and air force nurses out to the combat zones.

[rainbow4321]

12. "Nurses to be more scarce with war in Iraq"

http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2003/01/06/story1.html

Jan 2003

VA North Texas Health System has 25 nurses who could be called for duty. As of early December, seven had been called for duty and all but two or three had returned, said Alan Clark, public affairs specialist. Five physicians also could be called to active duty. "We have offered overtime to the staff, which has been negligible at this point," Clark said


"The state already needs an estimated 40,000 more nurses alone," said Paulette Standefer, vice president of Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council. "The health care staffing issues have gotten so much more severe than during the time of Desert Storm. The vacancy rate for critical care nurses is 16% here (in the Metroplex)."


"The state already needs an estimated 40,000 more nurses alone," said Paulette Standefer, vice president of Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council. "The health care staffing issues have gotten so much more severe than during the time of Desert Storm. The vacancy rate for critical care nurses is 16% here (in the Metroplex)."

The $10 billion temporary staffing industry has served as a safety net for hospitals and medical practices for several years, but many of those temporaries — estimates are more 30,000 — also are reservists.

[DavidDvorkin]

11. Less contact with the press, when they're in Iraq

That nurse's blog will probably disappear if she's there. Other contacts with the outside world are easier to control, as well.

[Toots]

13. "and were guaranteed four full years at Walter Reed"

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha........ I feel sorry for these nurses because they are in for some horrors. Iraq was easy compared to Syria and Iran but anyone who believes anything this government says (especially the military) truly needs their head examined.

[rainbow4321]

16. Right up there w/ Florida HS kids promised they would not leave...

the state of Florida if they signed up w/ the Nat'l Guard...per recruiters at their high school.

Newsflash for chimp..just like people don't HAVE to enter the Guard or Reserves, they also don't have to enter nursing school...and they WON'T once it starts to look like what they have to look forward to upon graduating is being sent off to die.

[dbt]

15. Most disturbing story of the day.

Will somebody else please recommend it for the Greatest section?

dbt

[MADem]

17. HEAD WOUNDS, severe trauma to extremities....

You will be hard put to FIND a military nurse in any capacity at any stateside hospitals if this keeps up. It won't be just Army nurses, the Navy and USAF will take the hit too. There will be a one star running the nursing staff, which will consist of very good, very capable, probably overweight and older, civilian nurses.

This is what is happening: the head wounds and amputees are OVERWHELMING the system. If you aren't in extremis, you could find yourself in a bed in the goddamn hallway at Landshtul once you are evacuated there.

These nurses are needed to do critical care in-country, and also to man the life flights to Germany and elsewhere that get the seriously wounded to hospital facilities with full care capability.

What does that mean for those Americans who are civilians? There will be fewer nurses in the civilian hospitals, and what do you want to bet that the percentage of foreign nurses, working on provisional certifications with guest visas, increases?

The moral of the story: In BushCo America, don't get sick. It's YOUR FAULT if you do!!! And don't expect nursing care, either!

The day is just around the corner when if you want care in a hospital, you have to bring a family member, who will sleep on a mat beside your bed, prepare your food on a hot plate, and be responsible for getting you from the bed to the "pot" and back again. They'll probably charge you for the privilege, too!

[cap]

24. head wounds arent fun patients...

people go through periods sometimes temporary and sometimes permanent of "Behavioral Disorder" after brain surgery.... combative, argumentative, sometimes physically abusing the nurses.

It takes a special type of nurse to realize this just happens with brain surgery and that the patient isnt just giving her lip.

The nurses arent having fun.

[MADem]

28. No, they aren't .... bless them all

I have had the honor of being cared for by Army and Navy nurses....never was in a postion to require care from the USAF nurses, but I am sure they are just as capable. It does take a special person to do that work. It's often not fun, it is never easy, and they are unappreciated, by and large.

Ya gotta hand it to them, they give it their all.

[AnneD]

18. Another RN checking in.........

I have been following this very closely since Bubya's first shot at Saddam. I have tried to spread the word to fellow nurses about the involuntary draft that many are subject to. As of now the top age has been pushed back to 45....however, the median age of Nurses in this country is 45 and we are graying faster with each passing day and there is no relief or younger Nurses in site. They would have to push back the age even more to have enough qualifying Nurses.
We have have raised 7 kinds of hell to make our working conditions conducive to insure patient safety, increasing longevity, enhance recruitment potential for those interested. However, we are at best patronized at worst marginalized and ignored. As a result, health care is on the path to a catastrophic shortage and drafting Nurses for Iraq would only accelerate this.
If the gov and congress want....they can draft all the medical people they want, willingly or not.They have always had that power. Nurses have always had a very high volunteer rate, but I don't see it happening this time around. We are burned out and near retirement now....why would we go into Iraq.
Overall, Nurses are more cynical these days. When they tried to shove the small pocks vaccine down our throats, many out and out refused. I can guarantee that if they drafted Nurses, that might be the last straw and you might see work stoppages and protests.
Contrary to the 'general' wisdom, Nurses are not interchangeable parts. You do not go to a Dermatologist for a cardiac problem and it is the same in Nursing. We are so specialized due to technology, protocol, etc. It would take time to bring ANY Nurse up to speed for war time duty.
I can only imagine the horror that these Nurses go through and thanks to DU for posting the Nursing thread and blog. I will post on the Nursing websites I go to and I am sure they will be of interest. Good to see other Nurses posting here.

[rainbow4321]

32. The old "nurse is a nurse is a nurse" crap is not going to cut it...

Just doesn't ring true anymore..you it the nail on the head. Ok, so, yeah, an ICU nurse can step down and work a med-surg floor, but you don't take a med surg/ortho/oncology/etc... nurse and say "now you get to go take care of trauma/ICU patients".
We can't even keep nurses on a busy med surg or ICU step down unit with NO draft going on..my step down floor keeps scaring off the newbies and burning out the experienced nurses (who are leaving in groups of 2-3 at a time). Throw in a medical/nursing draft and who will be left??

The words in bold below are enough to make one know this plan will cause massive problems..."small percentage", "minimal impact"....when many hospitals are already working with a skeletal staff, taking even a "minimal" number of nurses will be enough to shut down a floor or two! OR, in the case of my facility, they would never shut done a floor, they would just up the nurse/patient ratio! They already let people rot in the ER waiting for a bed before they'll ever divert incoming ambulances to another hospital.."head in the bed" = $$$$$$

http://www.sss.gov/FSmedical.htm

MEDICAL DRAFT IN STANDBY MODE

Draft a very small percentage of America’s health care providers into military service. Impact on the availability of civilian health care would be minimal. Those health-care workers whose absence would seriously hurt their communities would be deferred on the basis of community essentiality.

Begin a mass registration of male and female health care workers between the ages of 20 and 45. They would register at local post offices. HCPDS would provide medical personnel from a pool of 3.4 million doctors, nurses, specialists and allied health professionals in more than 60 fields of medicine.

Require minimal training for HCPDS draftees, because they are already skilled personnel

[rainbow4321]

34. "Mass registration within 2 weeks of Presidential Proclamation"

Article w/ details on the Health Care Personnel Delivery System (HCPDS)--would cover docs, nurses, and other medical support personnel.

http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/uploads/wmj/Lalich.pdf


"Emergency registration is comprised of 2 stages: a 7-day mass registration within 2 weeks of a Presidential Proclamation, and then a continuous registration beginning 2 weeks after the mass registration. Initially only qualified individuals between 20 and 44 yrs old would be required to register. The maximum age liability for registration and service is 55"

[cheezus]

19. man, talk about "war heros"

now there's a job I can't even IMAGINE doing.

[nostalgicaboutmyfutr]

20. Casualties from the Iran Invasion will go to Iraq. EOM

[dbt]

21. I see nine recommendations now. Thank you all!

Something sure looks like it's trying to go under the radar here and it needs to get some daylight on it!

:wtf:
dbt

[txaslftist]

22. So they'll be closer to Iran and Syria...

...our next theaters of combat.

[Rockholm]

23. Sick preparation for either Iran or Syria.

[dbt]

25. Yet ANOTHER kick.

This belongs on the front page.

:freak:
dbt

[seemunkee]

26. My boss was at Walter Reed yesterday

He was in for some tests but the doc cancelled on him. The doc was practically in tears and told my boss he can't work for the rest of the day after a new batch of boys come in from Iraq.

[MADem]

30. It is a sad truth---if you get your care from WRAMC

...you DON'T get your care from WRAMC*. They are seriously overburdened. It is getting so ugly, it is almost not worth the effort to make an appointment, that WILL be cancelled...

You cannot imagine how many WW2 era seniors, both retired and spouses, rely on Walter Reed for service. The numbers are ENORMOUS--guess the poor old bastards just won't die fast enough. It's gettting to the point where they are falling through the cracks. And surprise, surprise, it's DC, guess how many are minorities! 70 percent is about right.

It's past the choke point--it is almost untenable, unworkable....

*WRAMC=Walter Reed Army Medical Center

[Mr_Spock]

27. Are the nurses going to collect all the rose pedals and candy?

Fucking killers :mad:

[TexasLawyer]

31. kick

[DU GrovelBot]

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