John Bankhead / Vincent Frattaruolo
Like soldiers, they were in a battle, and some were injured, and disabled, yet they received no pension, no free medical care, and were cast out on the street to fend for themselves.The patients who scratched them, bit them, struck them, kicked them, cursed at them. The arrogant doctors who couldn’t function without them. The hospital administrators who made the nurses stand in the hallway all day, and then increased the shifts to 12 hours so they had to stand for 4 hours longer. The supervisors who refused to pay aides so the nurses had to administer meds late because they were changing beds until lunch, which they never got to eat. Yet they still rendered care. These were the people who made medicine live and breathe every day, the ones who suffered with the patients through some of the worst experiences in their lives. The doctors were occasional visitors who came and went, but the nurses make it happen day in and day out. 3
