Tag: Nursing

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Ethics on the Edge: Nurses Exploiting Patients for Social Media Content

During the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale did not exploit the wounded for personal gain or publicity. Although social media did not exist at the time, she had the option to use the press but chose not to. Instead, Nightingale used the lamp to symbolize her commitment to the nursing profession, rather than resorting to modern tools like selfies or cameras. Her focus was not on self-interest or public attention but on providing compassionate care to the sick and injured. Florence Nightingale became the Mother of Nursing because of her selfless acts.

She was passionate about her Environmental Theory not about her public image.

Fast forward to today, many, though not all, nursing students are using their patients as digital content on social media. Recently, I was shocked to learn that a nursing student recorded the dying moments of a patient—specifically, “the precise time when the electrocardiogram reading flatlined”—and then uploaded this video footage to a public social media account. The post went viral and garnered widespread attention from people in the healthcare profession.

Florence Nightingale must be turning in her grave.

The nursing profession is not a normal occupation. It is imbued with public interest, and it has cultural, professional, and moral underpinnings. In fact, the Board of Nursing passed Board Resolution No. 220, Series of 2004 or the Promulgation of the Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses to enforce a body of ethical standards or norms for Filipino Nurses.

Section 1 of the Code of Ethics provides that — The Filipino registered nurse, believing in the worth and dignity of each human being recognizes the primary responsibility to preserve health at all costs. It is expanded by Section 8 of the same Code of Ethics, in this wise: Nurses must Respect Patients’ Bill of Rights in the delivery of nursing care. One of the patient’s bill of rights is the right to privacy and respect.

Registered nurses are aware that their actions have professional, ethical, moral, and legal dimensions. They strive to perform their work in the best interest of all concerned and to carry out their duties under existing laws, rules, regulations, and generally accepted principles of moral conduct and proper decorum.

During my first week of nursing study at West Visayas State University, it was impressed upon us that the focus of nursing care is always the patient. Theoretical foundations of nursing practice, particularly those advocated by Dr. Jean Watson, emphasize that nursing should consider the whole person.

A dying person remains a person, and a nursing student should use his or her time to either prevent death or assist the patient in achieving a comfortable and peaceful end. I cannot understand how posting on social media could be a priority during such a critical moment.

This issue presents a critical challenge for the Board of Nursing to update its Code of Ethics to address the conduct of nurses in the online realm. Professional organizations must adapt to contemporary realities that jeopardize the sacred trust placed in the nursing profession. Filipino nurses are renowned for their compassion and competence, which is why the Philippines remains a leading exporter of nursing talent globally. We cannot allow narcissistic tendencies to tarnish this esteemed profession.

It is imperative that we collectively work to uphold and elevate the standards of nursing, ensuring that our actions reflect the true spirit of care and professionalism.

Finally, our nursing schools should prioritize not only developing the skills of nursing students but also shaping their attitudes.

About the Author:

Michael “Mikee” De la Peña is both a lawyer and a nurse, currently serving as a policy officer at a health think tank in the Philippines.

In his legal practice, he manages cases related to civil and criminal litigation, non-profit law, health policy, and intellectual property rights. He is also pursuing a Master of Laws degree at Ateneo de Manila University, focusing on Intellectual Property Law and Health Governance.

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A letter to cruel hospital leaders from a nurse.

Dear cruel hospital leaders, 

Greetings and congratulations for winning the vote of President Aquino to veto the bill that aims to improve the quality of life of the severely injured nurses in your own country.

You have proven that your influence is stronger than our clamour for dignified work and pay. It goes without saying that, you don’t see us in the big picture yet; your vision is to have a world class hospital in the country- the biggest joke I’ve heard.

In that note, I can confidently say, that you are operating in a hallucinatory vision. I am speaking in behalf of all the nurses in the all the hospitals and community centers in the Philippines, whom you never treated with care, understanding and dignity, despite their sacrifice to boost the income and image of your hospitals.

Yes, it all boils down to income. But healthcare is not all about economics; it is about healing and caring for a patient. If we are paid per hour, based from the room rates, per rounds, maybe we will not ask for this salary increase.

Forgive me, I’m sorry, but I can’t understand your arguments. All I know is that, you are suppressing within yourself, the recognition that nurses can make a difference in your health institutions. Investing in nurses will not hurt you, if only you have the plan and the will to execute it. However, being compassionate to nurses has never been your defining attribute. However, despite of all your shortcomings, we are still proud to say, that we have a lot of compassion and empathy.

How can you enjoy living your daily life while seeing your nurses– hungry, fatigued, sick and thirsty for justice?

If you have considered us partners, you will not be the first to call the president to veto the bill. We never failed you, when your hospital is shaking, when your patient’s census is overflowing, we are the one who ensure that everything and everyone are being taken care of.  When nurses create mistakes in the area because of fatigue, lack of motivation, lack of safe equipment and acceptable facilities, you never failed to put the blame on them.

Now that the bill is already dead, I hope that you are now happy or maybe you want to cut even our uniform or meal allowance just to suffice the needs of the institution.

Let us all be blunt and frank here.

Nurses deserve to be treated with respect. Before you ask to veto the bill, try to improve the hospital beds, try to provide foot stools, try to give us with working tables and chairs, (we envy your air-conditioned rooms), try to improve the oxygenation and  room sanitation of the hospital, try to provide us with bins, that separate infectious from biodegradable and recyclables, try to improve our shifting, please hire more nurses, because we are not robots, we have our own family to care and love, and lastly, try to discipline some of your beloved healthcare providers, emphasize that nurses are professionals and not slaves, be considerate because the remuneration that we are receiving is not proportionate to the service we give.

But don’t worry; we will continue to give our best– to care, but not in this country, perhaps, because you don’t deserve good nurses here.

If you are brave enough, you should have championed the bill and find alternatives to meet the goals and needs.

Past is past, because of this you created division and severed ties with nurses in the healthcare industry.

We are always in your side, supporting your objectives, but now, thank you for showing us, who really the wolves are.

– Mutya

 

 

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Sec. Coloma, I am Mutya and I stand to speak and defend Filipino nurses.

Dear Sec. Coloma,

I do appreciate your explanation why President Aquino vetoed the comprehensive nursing bill, but like what he did, as a nurse, I am writing my suppositions, I refuse to believe your sugar-coated, traditional answers.

Sec. Coloma, you have the liberty to positively varnish PNOY’s mercilessness regard to us, nurses. I know you are just doing your job, rest assured, I am doing mine also. You defend your boss, I will defend mine.

You have the microphone, the media and the podium of the Malacanan, we only have the small space in social media. We don’t have the machinery, but we have every genuine heart of a nurse- uncompromising, undying, passionate, enduring, caring and loving. Our only difference sir, is that, you are paid to do so, your life depends on your boss, but mine, depends on the hope that one day, nurses will claim what we long deserve.

Your explanation came very fast, in science that’s a form of self-defense, your body and spirit need to rationalize the guilt from murdering the lives of many Filipino nurses and their families.

How can you sleep sir during the night? With your mouth full of blood from the neck of innocent and dying nurses whom the office you are defending bit and slit last week? This administration sucked the blood and life of all the nurses in the Philippines.

How can you speak with conviction, echoing and spreading the lies that this administration is continuously propagating?

How can you kneel in the front of the crucifixion? Don’t you see us nurses on the cross?

Where do you take your strength to receive the Holy Communion?

If you have some form of mercy, as the mouth and ears of the President, please tell him that he can veto the bill, but he cannot veto our humanity and our profession. The presidency may disappear, including your position as the communications chief, but our profession will survive.

In fact, we will be the last person beside your deathbed, preparing your peaceful transition to the other side of the world. Remember there are two worlds after us (heaven and hell), we nurses can’t help you go to a better place.

If you are in disagreement of the salary grade, so be it, but please have the balls to improve the working conditions of all the nurses in the country. For 6 years straight, this administration had watched the nurses suffer in hospitals, which is lacking of safe equipment and manpower. You tend to compare us to other entry level professions, how dare you! Forgive my tone sir, but I will repeat, how dare you.

Entry level teachers, for example receive acceptable salaries after they graduate. Unlike us, nurses, after we graduate, we pay for hospitals to hire us and some are silently crawling just to work without receiving any salary for years, I repeat, no salary for years; until they are given a small allowance. The teachers are given chalks, rooms and books, while nurses are given nothing. We even accidentally needle prick our own fingers because your “state of the art” hospitals don’t have sharps collector, we mop the floor, because you don’t have enough hired janitors, if we are comfortable in our workplace, we will not ask you this consideration.

The office you are serving and defending seemed to be jubilant and contented seeing the nurses leave the Philippines. In abroad, Filipino nurses are considered as the best, they garner commendations; they are the top choice because they set high standards. The care of Filipino nurse is unique. Then this government will ask and wonder, why does the health status of the Philippines is not improving? You already know the answer sir, because you don’t invest in the healthcare workforce of your own nation.

Mr. Coloma, it is not unfair, and paying us will not distort the fiscal structure of the Philippines if ONLY you have the heart and the will to do it. What your boss did, was he distorted and crushed the hearts of all the nurses in the Philippines and abroad. He failed them terribly, this government butchered them, but believe me; we are not weaklings to not to overcome that blow. We studied for 4 years, volunteered without pay for 2-6 years and suffered under the (government watch). We cannot rely to the government. The house and the Senate have spoken, the Filipino Nurses have spoken but you did not listen.

In nursing, if a patient has impacted cerumen, we do flushing with solutions, ensuring first that their tympanic membrane is not perforated. After that procedure, the patient regains his/her hearing. But with you and the President, we don’t have the capability, because it is not the cerumen that blocked your hearing it is something inside your brains that filtered our cries and yearnings, and only you and God can decompress it.

Sir, time will come that you will need a nurse. With your age, you will soon need the assistance of these angels, by that time, I am hoping that, you will hold their hands and say thank you because despite all your sins and shortcomings to them, they will still be there to care for you. They will ensure that you are comfortable despite their pockets are empty, they will hold your hand and smile, they will perform the sponge bath using your favorite shampoo and soap, and before, you close your eyes they will whisper the most caring words in the world.

I’m sure your tears will begin to cloud your eyes, and you will remember everything, how the President vetoed the bill, and how you defended him.

 

Mr. Coloma, I am Mutya and I stand to speak and defend Filipino nurses. We have the same role, but I am in the good side, I don’t know about you, which side you stand.

-Mutya

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I’m MutyaRN, I’m writing to the President.

Dear Pres. Aquino,

I congratulate you for killing  the “ act providing for a Comprehensive Nursing Law towards Quality Healthcare System and Appropriating Funds Therefor”. This signifies your compassion, love  and understanding to us—nurses.

Being the outgoing President of the Philippines, I will give all my respect to you, His Excellency. Your administration is always proclaiming that you successfully improved the conditions of our public healthcare institutions in our poor country, in support, the Department of Health also boastfully said that we are very near to achieving the goal of universal healthcare, yet, ironically,  8 out of 10 Filipinos die without seeing a single healthcare professional, that includes not seeing us— nurses.

I will not ask you to override your decision or to explain yourself; I want to give you a glimpse of our life which you belittled and disregarded. It is better than convincing your already close mind.

Mr President, this is not only about the salary grade that we are fighting for, this is about the work dignity that the nurses only deserve. We don’t ask for too much, we only beg for the exact, livable amount. We are not corrupt, we care, we love, we understand and we only deserve it.

Early in the morning when no one is around, we take care of 30-40 patients in one hospital ward; your administration permitted your hospitals to hire 2-3 staff nurses/ward. Mathematically, one nurse is for 10 patients. We don’t only look at our patients, we cannot afford to sit, to wait for the bell to ring, eat our breakfast, lunch, snacks or dinner. Infact Mr. President, while you are taking your break,  we assess, diagnose, set outcome criteria, plan, intervene and evaluate.

We are not low lying animals, we are human beings.

We administer high alert medications. We see to it that we give the correct drug with right dose and observing another kilometer of rights. If we are cruel enough, if we are idle, if we are corrupt, if we are stupid, we can easily administer these drugs and watch your voters die.

We don’t get enough sleep, we have straight duties, we need to comply and compensate because most of your hospitals are understaffed. We report despite there is a typhoon, an earthquake, even in special occasions, we care for your voters. While others are having their vacation, while you are having your siesta time, we are selflessly present at the patients’s bedside.

Don’t lecture us about training and seminars because, I tell you Mr. President, it’s useless. We are paying for private training because the free seminars and training that you are very proud of, are as old as the Malacanan palace. If we want to learn more, to improve our competency, You give us no choice but to seek, to train and sadly, to pay using our own meager salary because when we will not do this, we will remain empty in your empty healthcare institutions. Supposedly, you are the one ensuring the implementation of these training. Your advisers did not do their research right?

Now, when your voters poop and urinate on their bed, we wipe it and make them clean. Our hands are dirty because you gave us no choice but to recycle our gloves.  We don’t have mask in the hospital, to protect ourselves; we buy using our own salary. Providing workplace safety, as far as I know, is your responsibility. No amount of money can pay to suffice the hazards that we are facing every day.

Lastly, you don’t ever compare us to other professions. We are your health allies. We are the lifeblood of the healthcare industry. When we leave the bedside, many will die, and you will not like it. We don’t leave our posts just to attend rallies in the street. In fact, we are not only nurses, we are also teachers, because health education is one of our many core competency.  Our teachings can save a life.

We are also pharmacist, we don’t only administer drugs, we check it, and we protect your voters from medication error. We don’t simply follow orders, like you, we discern, we investigate if this is safe and beneficial for your voters.  Unlike you, we fight for what is right and just.

No job is small or big. Every job is unique. There is simple a reason why nurses receive high salary outside of this country. It is no brainier Mr. President. It is common sense that other countries, sane and compassionate countries, acknowledge the kind of work that we do. Only in this country that we are treated as animals, not to mention, some doctors who verbally torture nurses in the clinical area.

With due all respect Mr President, you are under an illusion and a delusion that this country has a strong health workforce. In Psychiatric nursing, we confront you with reality, that’s why I’m writing this for you to see the bitter realities of the nursing industry in our country. If you are still in doubt, try to have yourself admitted in a public hospital, and you will see how cruel your government to nurses is.

Earlier when I read the news that you vetoed the bill, I cried because of disbelief. In fact, I am a supporter of your yellow army. I supported you, but that support and admiration ends today, like how you vetoed our life, the CNL.

Nurses are trained to become caring, understanding and enduring. We always listen; we never judge or give advice to influence a decision. However, I can’t be a nurse with this.

Tonight, I am speaking not as a nurse but as a human being. This is more than business Mr. President. At the end, you will know that the last man or woman standing beside your bed is a nurse and not your (kumpare and companeros,) the {nurse}  will insert your intravenous catheter, she will tuck your bed, she will wipe your poop, she will give your medications, will clean your wounds, will provide you food, will fight for your rights, will protect you from falls and accidents, even you failed them.

Mr. President, I want to close this letter by saying; you have no heart . You have no soul.

 

-Mutya