Very little about baby

I wish I had something scintillating to say. So before the next kvetch-fest, I send you to March Madness where you too can get involved in figuring out the Conservative brackets. I'm hoping that come November the conservatives will have no brackets left. May I just note that South Dakota has BANNED abortion. Yes, that state has actually legislated against abortion except for when the life of the pregnant woman is in danger. Yet another blow against women and their right to control their bodies and fertility. Please vote wisely come November.

To add insult to injury, as with the rest of the infertile blogosphere, I am incensed by the president of Resolve's comments to Newsweek magazine - way to perpetuate stereotypes, dude. Thanks so much.

Now given, my particular problems were not caused by medical issues per se, no endo (at least not much), no PCOS (only a suspicion), just minor Hashimoto's and hypothyroidism. And even that wasn't really it - more a tubal issue, thanks to an ectopic, thanks to a mixed up relationship, thanks to being a screwed up teen-ager, thanks to a million reasons which are too complex to delve into early on a Sunday morning.

So ... yeah, I kind of fit into both categories and I was still insulted by the president of Resolve's interview and subsequent mea culpa (or lack thereof). Since when do you let the reporter dictate the kind of interview you're going to give? Don't give us a cop-out answer about how the reporter really wanted to focus on this or that aspect - tell the damned reporter "these are my conditions for doing the article" or no dice. Believe me - they want you for the story as much as they want to cover certain "aspects". Yeesh.

A lot of women in the blogosphere have written letter to Resolve - I wish I was as articulate as Brooklyn Girl
or as inspiredarticulateerrr heartfelt as Beaver Girl or any number of the women who wrote in anger, but the fact is - I am not. And while I'm name-dropping, please wish Akeeyu, Julia and Julianna good luck. Please.

So I kvetch here instead. Yes, you got one kvetch-free entry, if you're an infertile, you didn't dare hope for another. I debated taking down my Resolve link but I decided against it - after all, they do good, despite their asshole of a president. And - why exactly - and herein my bias will show - why exactly is the president a male? Not to be ignorant - heck, male infertility is a fact, but it just seems to me that men head so many organizations where women are the main participants/victims/users/insertwhateverfitshere.

That's definitely true in nursing.

I guess this would be a great jump-off into how much I have come to dislike working with women, but ... *shrug*. What else is new? Can you tell there is strife at work?

The sad part is that even if I left my job (which I do like, despite having a defensive/passive-aggressive/play favourites-type boss), I know that it will not be much different anywhere else. I have worked in many varied environments in my healthcare career; psychiatry, ICU, ambulatory care, telephone triage, regular nursing floor - and the environment rarely changes. Even if you're lucky enough to have a good nurse manager, which sadly is a rarity, the cattiness, back-stabbing and gossiping amongst the staff (and doctors, don't forget the doctors)is enough to drive you bananas. I'm not certain if it's women or nursing. Maybe it's both. And maybe that's where the president of Resolve gets it from - hell knows, he fits right in.

I love being a nurse. I love what I do, no matter where I do it and it which setting it is performed - caring for patients and doing my absolute best for them means a great deal to me. It makes a difference in people's lives, whether it's saving a life in the "every second counts" atmosphere of ICU, or helping alleviate the sometimes paralyzing fear of a patient about to undergo an endoscopy. I love it and I'm good at it. I just wish nurses ...well, I just wish we could all get along. Maybe then we could actually unite and cause something good to happen. The nursing workforce is huge, seriously. There are a few hundred thousand registered nurses across the United States - that should be some serious political power for change. Instead, we are torn apart by in-fighting and cattiness.

I suppose I'm not much better. I have not done much except kvetch about it.

Perhaps this kvetch was brought about by receiving one of the area's nursing magazines and seeing the nurse week gear they had for sale. I want none of it - and I really want to want it, baby. I do - well, other than the inane "nurses are angels" crap. I mean, really, folks. But I want to want the cute "don't mess with my mom, she's a nurse" outfit for Imri. I want to want the "RN" license plates you can get in Maryland. And I treasure the stuff my husband (and patients) have given me in the past. But something about all this nurse stuff - and not just the gear - leaves me cold.

And that makes me sadder than my meagre writing skills can describe.





I feel so much better now