Hanging Out With Amy Goodman...

With Joni out of town for the week, I snuck off to Chico to meet Amy Goodman. I described meeting her on my other blog.

Amy Goodman is one of my heroes. Frankly, the left side of the ledger has some pretty good talent: Amy being one of them; Thom Hartmann is another. The work they do on Free Speech TV and their radio shows certainly bests the hefty, barbed wire loving, talking heads of the Right.

Amy Goodman had a booksigning and then a speech. I've heard Amy before, but this time she was much more comfortable at the mike. And also much more real as she talked about her experiences over the past couple of months watching her Mother die in a hospital.

Amy said they had to "stand guard" over the ineptitude of the doctors and nurses who took care of her Mother. The problem to me (since I am an RN) is that her Mother was in a hospital that doesn't value the skills and talents of the nurses.

Doctors need to have a good relationship with their nurses. After all, it is the nurses who actually are with the patient. I am blessed with having a good relationship with the doctors I work with. I can suggest treatment modalities; bring up things the doctor has overlooked; I can have knock down drag out fights with the good Docs I work with. All of this means that there is less of a chance for mistakes. And things do not get overlooked.

The more empowered the nurse, the better the care provided. When doctors and nurses work together in an atmosphere of respect and collaboration, better care is given to the patient.

Back to Amy. She gave a hell of a speech. Witty. Graceful. Informative. Filled with snippets of wisdom--I'm glad she is on our side. If you haven't watched/heard Democracy Now!--I heartily implore you to give the alternative media a chance!