The Wichita Center Reacts to Senator Walsh’s Characterization of Nurses

If you were paying much attention to mainstream news over Easter weekend, you probably heard that Senator Maureen Walsh stated that “[nurses] probably play cards for a considerable amount of the day.” Setting political jabs and mudslinging aside, the Wichita Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation would like to acknowledge the dedicated and hardworking nursing professionals in the world and to shed a bit of light on the actual issue around which this statement was made.

The bill to which Senator Walsh was responding is state bill SHB 1155 which deals with requiring employers to allow uninterrupted meals and rest periods for nurses. The Senator started the statement out by saying that she wasn’t sure how much of an effect it would have on nurses in smaller facilities who, in her opinion, probably already get those interrupted breaks. She went on to illustrate this with the hypothetical card-playing example.

Understandably, career nurses nationwide expressed their displeasure with the statement on social media. Most people wouldn’t want to be envisioned as not working hard at their jobs. The central issue, though, is the matter of the uninterrupted breaks, and it’s a valid concern on both sides. Nurses obviously work in an environment where immediate response is often crucial, and no one wants to envision nurses refusing to leave a breakroom while an emergency goes unattended.

That “nobody”, though, includes nurses. These folks have dedicated their professional lives to helping people, and, regardless of their breaks, that involves all manner of sacrifice. That being said, an exhausted, burnt out nurse is usually going to be less effective than a refreshed nurse, and we all want them to do the best job possible. So how do we balance breaks and manning? Proper scheduling of breaks should be able to account for both without sacrificing too much on either end.