Before we get to deep into the weeds of this next news story, let's make sure we all understand something: nurses work hard. Damn hard. They work long hours, 6 days a week and they do it because they sincerely care about helping people.
It's difficult to do what a nurse does. Heck, it's hard to even get accepted to nursing school.
All that being said, it's not hard to understand why every nurse in America hates Maureen Walsh right now.
State Senator Maureen Walsh is a lawmaker in Washington state.
Last week she made national headlines when she said nurses, "play cards for a considerable amount of the day."
Oh no you didn't, girl.
Walsh made this statement on the floor of the Washington state senate when arguing that nurses should be exempt from Washington State bill SHB 1155. This bill would protect nurses from mandatory overtime as well as protect their meal and rest breaks.
However you feel about the bill, one thing is for sure - telling nurses they sit around and play cards all day is probably not the right way to defend your position.
Now nurses all over America are unified together by their hatred of Maureen Walsh.
The Washington State Hospital Association’s President and CEO, Cassie Sauer, posted the following statement in response to State Senator Walsh's comment:
“In a surprise amendment to the nurse staffing bill, the Senate added a provision that would limit nurses to working only eight hours in a 24-hour period. This would be a strict prohibition, with no exemptions for emergencies or patient safety. Nurses could not choose to work more if they wanted to. A nurse could be in the middle of a life-saving surgical procedure and there would be no exception to allow them to stay and complete their work. WSHA did not support and had no knowledge of this amendment."
Maureen, if you get sick this week, you may want to consider going to a hospital in Canada. Just sayin'.