Nursing Students Ignored in Washington State Disaster Response Plans

Recent disasters such as hurricane Katrina have underscored the need for skilled volunteer workers. In every state, there are hundreds- if not thousands- of Nursing students who can be useful to healthcare organizations during public health crises. Yet some states, such as Washington, ignore the large group of people who can effectively augment and enhance a disaster response.

In particular, senior-level nursing students can provide a broad spectrum of services due to their advanced level of training. Furthermore, senior Bachelor's Degree nursing students are capable of performing not only basic healthcare, but also of performing more advanced work such as community health assessments, research, and team leadership. (This is not a dig on Associate's Degree nursing (ADN) programs, but simply reflects the enhanced level of education that Graduate nursing students receive.)

It is not as if utilizing volunteer nursing students is without precedent.

In the aftermath of Hurricanes Ivan and Frances, Florida State University School of Nursing Dean Katherine Mason offered the services of her senior nursing students, and the results were most impressive.

There are hundreds of student nurses in the metropolitan King County region in Washington State. Five of these programs provide Bachelor's Degree-level preparation. There are at least five more Associates Degree nursing programs in the same region. Figure an average class size of 34 you get between 60 and 70 students in every BSN nursing program. Now factor in the average class size of the other programs in the region, and you will arrive at somewhere between 600 and 700 student nurses (counting both juniors and seniors)in the Metropolitan King County region alone who can rovide much-needed assistance in a disaster; and the County will not use them if a disaster occurs.

And when you look at the entire state, that means that thousands of skilled people are forbade from serving their communities with the skills they possess if a disaster strikes. To that end, it is the opinion of this writer that a great disservice is being done to the citizens of Washington State through the government's failure to recognize and utilize a large and valuable resource.

The subject of student nurse volunteers is not specified anywhere in the language of the Washington State laws specific to nursing education. Even Nursing Technicians (an interim licensure for senior nursing students) are barred from medical-related volunteer service simply because the possibility is not addressed in the existing law, and because medical disaster response teams are exluded from the group of approved facilities for employment of Nursing Technicians.

Nursing students in Washington State would jump at the chance to put their newly-gained knowledge and talent to use for the public service in time of crisis. As described above, the precedent for their use exists; likewise their effectiveness. Yet in the most densely populated region of the state, hundreds of them will be barred from volunteering to serve in a way that they have trained to serve.

Public Schools are Run by Liberal Idiots, Part 678

Just when I thought that the mouth-breathers who have taken over the leadership of our public schools could not possibly do any more to erode the ability of our children to develop valuable social skills, I read this story. It seems that a Massachusetts elementary school has taken turning America's children into spineless, soft, socially-vapid drones to a whole new level.

Now, don't get me wrong. Dodgeball can be a pretty brutal game. But we learned valuable life lessons from dodgeball: namely, "If you can't take it, don't play." But you won't see games like that on playgrounds in very many public schools anymore. These games are "dangerous and exclusionary."

What that means is that some candyass socialist liberal ACLU gender-blender twit is upset that when he/she was a kid he/she got his/her ass kicked in a competitive game. Now that he/she is all grown up and a self-important school superintendent, he/she will make those mean little bastards on the playground pay, and no little child of parents who never got over it will have to endure the terrible meat-grinder known as "four-square" again. Doesn't that make you feel just dandy?

So what games will we see on the playground? Here are my predictions, based on the PC liberal idiots who have overrun our schools:

"Burn the Flag"
"Dodgeresponsibility"
"Hide and shred"
"Go to the Head of the Madras"
"Pin the label on the Bible-thumping Christian Right-wing Fundamentalist"
"Chase the Jew"
"One-Circle" (Because four-square is dangerous and exclusionary and we want our children to be one in consciousness, Kum-bah-yah... except for Christians and Jews.")

Did you ever wonder where all those playground whiners went? You know, the ones who always pitched a royal hissy-fit when they got called out, or got pummelled in dodgeball, or were out in the first round of four-square, and then they tattled on you to the teacher with some made-up story just to get back at you?

Behold, our public school leaders of today. Kum-bah-frickin'-yah.

A Bronx Cheer to "Peaceful" Islam

Dear Moslems:
I for one am sick of hearing the whining coming from the Moslem community about Islam being a "religion of peace" when they refuse to condemn the violent and hateful acts of butchery perpetrated by their brethren on an hourly basis. Islam is not a religion of peace. And their refusal to condemn the slaughter of innocents in the name of their religion betrays Islam for the terrorist-breeding hate-incubator that the world knows it to be.

What has Islam done except keep its adherents in the dark ages, brutalize women, enslave people who would rather not subscribe to its poisonous doctrine, encourages its adherents to lie, cheat, and steal in order to stick it to the infidel, and threaten anyone who dares draw a funny picture of Mohammed with torture and death?

Nothing. So the "religion of peace" is no such thing.

To the Moslems out there in TV Land, I suggest that you either publicly condemn the actions of your radical brethren or shut up about Islam being a religion of peace. Americans saw your "religion of peace" in action on 9/11/01 and every time since then that your brethren torture and kill anyone who does not agree with Islam. Your definition of "peace" is a lie, and your refusal to condemn Islamic brutality betrays you for the liars that we always suspected you to be.