Those who are consistent readers of my opinion pieces know that I am a big fan of Ronald Reagan. Who can forget one of his most prophetic sayings:
“I think you all know that I’ve always felt the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help.’”
And after about forty years the terror of the government knowing best and helping keeps recurring again and again. For instance with the recent Covid pandemic many nurses, after hearing horror stories related to the vaccine, were reluctant to be vaccinated.
From the Epoch Times:
Noticing the reluctance within the health care industry to take the vaccine, the Biden administration imposed a vaccine mandate on health care workers on Nov. 5, 2021. (Government-> helping!)
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, stated that “in order to receive Medicare and Medicaid funding, participating facilities must ensure that their staff—unless exempt for medical or religious reasons—are vaccinated against COVID-19.” (Government -> helping!)
So what is the result today of all this government help?
A 40-year record high of 100,000 nurses left their jobs in 2021, according to a study published in Health Affairs Forefront in April 2022.
The study noted that the exiting nurses were primarily younger, rather than the expected age group of above 50.
The nursing shortage had long been a problem before COVID-19. When hospitals began operating like corporations instead of as a refuge for the sick, nurses became disillusioned with the occupation, nurse Irene Ricks told The Epoch Times.
“Not only were nurses having to take on a huge load of patients, but they were also being told to do things that they didn’t feel right about,” Ricks continued.
“Then, they were being told they had to be vaccinated or they would lose their job.” The vaccine mandate “was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Ms. Ricks said.
“It made nurses quit or retire in droves.”
Partially as a consequence of “government helping,” we now have a substantial nursing shortage. So what would one now expect the government to do? Obviously … help some more … and right on cue,
legislation was introduced by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). The bill, introduced in April, would establish a maximum number of patients a nurse should juggle on a shift.
(Government -> helping, again!)
Common sense here would suggest that a nationwide shortage of nurses is not going to helped by mandating how many patients a nurse can take care of! With many nursing programs impacted, I’d bet that the long term solution should involve increasing the number of nurses trained … Hmmm!
12/18/23