Love never ends

This has been a very reflective period for me. I was at a family funeral today, the second in a month. That, combined with something that happened at work to a coworker, has made me think about the people who matter to me, my family, friends, and coworkers. One of the readings today included the following, Love is patient, love is kind, love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on it's own way, it is not irritable or resentful, it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. This reading is often used to express romantic love at weddings but it also applies to another form of love, the love between family, friends and coworkers. The kind of love that says I'm am always here for you, I've got your back, and I'm not going away. We are as one, in solidarity. You are my brothers and sisters, remember that. We're here for each other.

Remembering 9/11/01

I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing on certain days of my life.
I remember 11/22/79, Thanksgiving Day, the day my second son was born. I remember going to my parents later in the day with my older son and falling asleep on the living room carpet.
I remember 11/22/63. I was in Miss Barrett's third grade class when they made the announcement that our president had been shot. I remember getting out of school early, walking home and my Aunt Rita, who was watching us because my parents were in California, wondering why we were coming home because she had not heard the news.
I remember 7/20/69. Neil Armstrong stepping onto the moon, the grainy black and white image, "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
I remember 9/11/01.
I remember I had the day off, I was home and completely unable to pull myself away from the TV. I remember calling work to see if I should go in to get ready in case we received victims, not realizing that most wouldn't survive. I remember walking in the evening those next few days, looking up and not seeing any planes in the sky. I remember the heroic first responders, ignoring personal safety, running in while others rushed out.
I remember a few weeks later driving down interstate 95 and seeing American flags on each overpass.
We were united!

What happened?
Today we seem so divided, unable to find middle ground. Washington DC is gridlocked.
I understand the passion of standing up for something you believe in. I spent the last year doing just that. But I also believe with a country as diverse as ours, I, nor anyone else, can have everything exactly the way we want. If we wish to move forward we must maintain and fight for our core beliefs but leave room for compromise.
There is a saying, "lead, follow, or get out of the way." A person unwilling to compromise is in the way.
Our nation's greatness is based on our ability to come together, despite our different beliefs, and work for the good of all.
Perhaps the greatest testimonial we can give the victims and heroes of 9/11 is to remember what makes us great. The terrorist sought to destroy us, they failed. Let's not be so unwilling to work together that we hand them victory.

JFK told us to ask what we could do for our country. Our forefathers did that, the victims and heroes of 9/11 did that, our military today does that.
Let us do that. Let us remember 9/11/01 as the day that brought us together in unity and cooperation for the betterment of all.

Weingarten rights

Picture this -you get pulled over on the highway, "license and registration please. Do you know why I pulled you over?" It was recently pointed out to me what that question means. The trooper knows why he stopped you, he just wants you to admit to it or if he gets real lucky, maybe even admit to something else. Just to be clear, "because of the body in my trunk?" is a bad answer. Sometimes at work we get into a similar situation. The boss calls us in, maybe someone from Human Resources is there, they say something like "someone saw you take something that was company property." What do you say? The answer they are looking for is “yes” maybe they hear “but it was broken and in the trash” maybe they skip over that part. What should your answer be? If you belong to a union it should be: If the discussion in this meeting could in any way lead to my being disciplined or terminated or impact my personal working conditions, I request that my steward, local officer or union representative be present. Without union representation, I choose not to answer any further questions at this time. These are your rights under a Supreme Court decision called Weingarten. Recently a nurse got called in to a meeting with her manager and Human Resources. She asked to have a witness present and I volunteered to join her. Before we went in we sat and talked through what might happen and that above all we should stay calm and professional. The meeting went well and when we talked it through with management in a calm and professional way everything turned out to be a misunderstanding. Could it have gone differently? You bet! Had the nurse gone in alone, said the wrong thing, lost her cool, the outcome would be different. Remember, all the nurses at backus are in a union now. You have the right to representation. Stay in contact with your representative (liaison) and if you need someone by your side there are many of us who will be right there.

Labor Day Message

This labor day is different. This labor day is special. For me its not just a long weekend, no longer just the end of summer, no longer just the beginning of a new school year. For the nurses of Backus hospital labor day this year has a new meaning. We started a year ago with an idea, if we stood together we could improve our hospital and our community. We faced an administration that opposed us and one of the best union busting law firms in the country, and we prevailed. Now we sit at the negotiation table as equals. We are the Backus Federation of Nurses. We are united and strong. We have a message, We are here to help. We will improve our hospital and our community because they are OURS. We will negotiate a contract that will make Backus the type of hospital where nurses want to work. We are ready to reach out to our community as we recently did with our food drive. AFT president Randi Weingarten said in her Labor Day message: "We will continue our work to forge new bonds—and strengthen long-standing ones—between labor and community. Because only together will we be able to chart a course where America believes and acts as if its best days are ahead of us, not behind us." My brothers and sisters of the Backus Federation of Nurses, of the other locals of AFT CT, of AFT nation wide, of the AFL-CIO, of the entire labor movement; our best days are ahead of us. We are limited only by our ability to believe! Happy Labor Day.

Hurricane Irene

It is early Tuesday morning as I write this by candlelight. Hurricane Irene hit late Saturday. We lost power that night. They estimate we could be in the dark for a week or more. They'll have a better estimate later today. Yesterday they made progress clearing the roads of trees and downed wires. Most roads are now passable. My town is 99% without power. We are OK. Unlike many of my neighbors, no trees down in my yard, only branches. No damage, although we have 8-9 inches of water in the basement. Work on Monday was very busy! Monday's usually are, this was more so. Many doctor's offices are closed because they have no power. Also, many came in because they lost power for medical equipment like breathing treatments or electric wheel chairs or fear of being isolated. In nursing we recognize that people regress when ill. For example, a sick 10 year old will act as he did at 6. I see the same regression with the stress of the storm and lack of power. Many of our patients have complex medical-psychological -social problems. Some have limited coping skills. Right now those skills are being taxed. There are shelters with power, food, water and oxygen. But a person with limited coping skills has trouble accessing them. The lack of family or community connections for some is disheartening. I imagine the this next week will continue to be challenging, both at work and at home. It is important to remember that we are safe, we are well, and most important, we are not alone. The hurricane also illustrates the importance of our local's community outreach program. The Backus Federation of Nurses is an organization of 450 RNs who already do great work individually with community organizations, sports teams, churches, schools, boy and girl scouts and more. We are working to establish relationships between our federation and community organizations so that when a need arises we can use our unique skills to help. The middle of a crisis is not the time to build these relationships, now is the time. Our recent food drive with the United Way was a good beginning.