Getting Away With...

It’s not often I’d jump much into open political wackiness, but during this last several weeks of the Presidential race here in the US, several things seem to be in that “getting away with” category, and most all of them are horribly tilted to the left.

One of my co-workers today, in front of one of my patients, decided to enter into that realm probably best left to the right-leaning conservative FOXNews, or the unashamed left-wing, atheist-loving CNN. She said, while my patient was watching FOXNews, “so who are you going to vote for?” I gave my opinion, and like any good nurse, my “rationales.”

Now, let’s get one thing straight. I’m a conservative-leaning fulfilled Jew who has voted in the past for both sides of the aisle, depending on the candidate and what I felt he or she brought to the table. I like honest criticism of every candidate, but don’t care for the over-tiltedness toward one candidate that seems to pervade certain media outlets.

Given all that, I’m finding it pretty incredibly disgusting to see where the Democrats in general, and candidate Barack Obama in particular along with his seemingly overwhelming Nuremberg rally-like army of spellbound supporters, can seem to get away with everything from below-the-belt mudslinging, double entendre, and Internet crimes.

Take for example (if I were to outline all the examples, we’d be here until Bush leaves office), the latest twist on the Sarah Palin email hacking scandal. Oh yes, I’m sure that by the time it’s all said and done, it’ll be quite a scandal. The latest as of this writing seems to be that the investigation has, for all intents and purposes, been shut down, without so much as a slap on the wrist to erstwhile computer geek turned suspected computer hacker David Kernell, son of – you guessed it – DEMOCRATIC Tennessee state Representative Michael Kernell. My problem with this stems from the fact that the whole hacking shocker seemed to grip the nation with an almost universal “how dare they break the law”… UNTIL… it was disclosed that the prime suspect (and in my opinion, the prime culprit) was the son of a Democrat. So quickly after that, the mood changed… the Obama-engine seemed to kick into overdrive, attempting to cast doubt on the Democratic connection, as well as the irritating little fact that what the kid did is commit a FELONY. Hmm… My question is, who’s putting pressure on the US Attorneys in Tennessee, to have the lock up this investigation so quickly? If this was Denmark, as the phrase infers, we’d have to throw open the windows and kick the fans on high.

And do we even dare to touch the supposed untouchables, the celebrities that everyone loves to look up to and pay so much money to see on the big screens and the small VIEWs? Since when did practically every celeb in Hollywood get sprinkled with the Michelle Obama “cute” fairy-dust, and turn into mindless zombies for Obama? Oh, even Howie Mandell, who I swear looks more like Beelzebub with that skin-head and mini-goatee, had to get into the act at the recent Primetime Emmy Awards, along with other glassy-eyed tux-stuffers such as Beelzebub, er, Howie, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Tommy Smothers, whose little rant seemed smacked more of the hippie peace-ins from his original series’ era, and left me almost expecting to see the ghost of John Lennon coast on the stage while singing “Imagine”. Overall, that bit of Hollywood back-slapping gave me the impression that they were acting on that stage, to the script written by the same Democratic script writers that roll the words on Obama’s teleprompters.

And since when did some columnist from Canada get to weigh in on the Democratic side of the aisle in the USA, in an obvious attempt to stimulate the Obama-zombies’ laugh tracks? Yes, let’s talk about what seems to be Greta Van Susteren’s apparent nemesis, CBC’s own claim to shame, Heather Mallick… who has the look of what many in America have come to know and love about Canadian inbreeding.

As the story goes, Mallick appeared on CBC news on the last day of the Republican National convention, at the same time a UK newspaper published a column of hers, in which she trashed Republican Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s home state of Alaska as a “frontier state full of drunks and crazy people”, continuing that she “added nothing to the ticket that the Republicans didn’t already have sewn up, the white trash vote.” She also likened the Alaska governor’s looks as “a toned-down version of the porn actress look favored by this decade’s woman, the overtreated hair, puffy lips and permanently alarmed expression.”

Heather, one tip for you… if you’re going to trash someone else’s looks, I’d at least get a publicity picture of yourself that’s… not you. I’m wondering if the hometown in Northern Ontario you came from, which is reportedly smaller than Sarah Palin’s mayorship town, has more in common with “Deliverance” than you’d like to admit. I’ve travelled in Northern Ontario… and personally, after that experience, I’ll stick to Toronto on my next visit.

All this politico seems to be one-sided. I really don’t see the Republicans running off teaching their followers a “bump”-y new version of a salute that any self-respecting Jew should be highly offended with. I don’t see McCain’s speech-writing team handing out scripts for public celebrities and figures to use to trash the opposition. I don’t see Palin supporters rushing to their computers to reset passwords for the email accounts of the DNC members.

So why do the Democrats seem to be getting away with all this?

If you ask me, it’s for much the same reason Adolf was able to get away with so much…

Resolutions

I never made too much of New Year's Resolutions -- they always seemed to be too much of a downer when you realized that two weeks later, they'd all been broken.  As we collectively enter 2008, I could resolve to stop smoking (which I don't), or I could resolve to lose 50 pounds (which I probably never will) or I could resolve to buy my dream BMW this year (which would be a miracle).

No, this year I'll only make one:  I resolve to graduate from my RN-program nursing school.

Those who have never been in nursing school or who have never known a nurse VERY well, will no doubt sit there and say, "what kind of resolution is that?  That's no big deal."  But nurses, their families and close friends will appreciate the fact that nurse training is like military training:  they both are "boot camps"... the only difference is that student nurses don't get their heads shaved down and they don't drop and give their instructor "50" every time they answer a question wrong.

And we also have to give credit here to the fact that most people have this impression of nursing students as perky, cute little 18- or 19-year old girls just out of high school, probably still living at home with mommy and daddy, and only need enough spending money that they can get from grant refunds and their part-time job at Hot Topic.

Sorry, I don't fit the demographic.

So what's the big deal about a resolution to graduate nursing school?  In the first place, I'm neither 18, nor perky, nor a girl.  I'm one of the growing number of men in nursing, choosing nursing as a profession because it's what I wanted to do all along -- but never did until now.  I did something else for my Bachelor's degree, and had a decently successful IT career before heeding the calling I ignored since the mid-80's.  Second, try pulling a full-time, 40+ hour per week hospital job along with a full-time schedule in nursing school, with its lecture time, school laboratory, hospital clinical time, study time, tests, etc. -- not the easiest thing in the world.  Add to this, a wife, 9-year-old daughter, 3 cars, a mortgage, and the fact that I'm over 40 (which, thank God, I see a growing number of my generation entering nursing school for the first time), and you have the picture of how hard it has been for me over the last 2+ years.

Granted, I will give credit where credit is due to any nursing student who braves the nursing school boot-camp and makes it out alive with their GN in hand.  But I will give more credit to those such as in my position who have to work full-time and go to school full-time, who are older and have been out of the school environment for 10, 15, 0r 20 years, and are even holding their own and passing.  As the nursing student mantra goes, "C = RN".

And the choice of school makes a difference, too.  Some schools make it harder than it all needs to be.  One school I know of in my local area has turned this into a virtual art form, doing a variety of things to deliberately cause students to fail so they can narrow the field from the 120 they bring in every fall, in an attempt to keep those they believe have the best shot of passing the NCLEX (the "state board" nursing license test), so their pass rate percentages look good and they can continue getting state and federal money for their program.  Other schools take the "let's work with you to help you understand" approach (such as the school I've found) who won't necessarily hand you a grade, but will go the extra mile to help you learn the concepts and equip you to not just pass the boards, but to be a good entry-level nurse.

This is where I believe the difference is.  Students can fall all over themselves trying so hard to pass tests and memorize things well enough to get a grade, but does that really equip them to make it in the real world where the test is a patient with non-specific symptoms and you have to think on your feet enough to differentiate what you tell the doctor when you call, or if you need to call at all?

I think the best entry-level nurses are those who don't feel the intense pressure of weekly pencil-and-paper tests, but where their skills are taught, learned, and practiced to the point of near-proficiency.  I have already met enough nursing students from other schools whom I wouldn't want to see over my hospital bed when I regain consciousness after some accident or other.

Being trained as one of those skills-based, not "book-based" nurses, I can't wait for this semester to begin (in about a week).  I can't wait to graduate.  I can't wait to get out and help people.  Yes, the money's great, the concept that I have the choice of a job practically anywhere I want is great.  But the opportunity to be a blessing to someone by helping them to recovery... that's the greatest reward.  And unlike some seasoned nurses who I know that whine about being burned out, maybe when I get "burned out" (if I do), I'll be ready to retire anyway.

So, this year, I will graduate from nursing school, and I will make a difference.