I spent a week in the hospital at Inova Fairfax and just want to say how great the nurses are at that hospital. They really took care of me and provided moral support to my spouse when I was not recovering very well after cancer surgery. Nurses are the best people in the world. I can never thank them enough. I did send letters in to the hospital citing the excellent service that I received.

And that goes double for INOVA Alexandria. It's smaller than INOVA Fairfax so, you don't get the idiot student nurses and docs waking you up to give you a sleeping pill and other bullshit. I've had good care at Fairfax in the past, but they're just too big now. But, depending on what you're dealing with and where you live, Fairfax might be your best option.

I concur. Nurses work long hours, and do not get enough credit, for both the dedication and professionalism that they show at Fairfax Hospital. Even with a lot of patients, they are kind, patient, compassionate, and keep doctors from killing you :). God bless them.

I have to agree that the Fairfax Hospital nurses are great having just been in there overnight. I think that this holds true for all of the Inova nurses as I saw the same dedication and professionalism at Fair Oaks Hospital last year.

Do any of the nurses appear to be native born, or they all immigrants from the third world?

I swear to fuck I haven't seen a medical person that wasn't a foreigner in many years.

Are Americans too stupid to make it through medical/nursing school anymore?

Went to Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington when my son was born last year - all the nurses on the ward were great, as well as young, cute, and white!

wonder Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Do any of the nurses appear to be native born, or
> they all immigrants from the third world?
>
> I swear to fuck I haven't seen a medical person
> that wasn't a foreigner in many years.
>
> Are Americans too stupid to make it through
> medical/nursing school anymore?

If you don't have a 4.0 on a bachelors degree forget medical school.
I have a friend who only had a 3.9 because of a "B" in one English
class and couldnt go unless it was in the Carribean. Now we have doctors
and nurses who can barely communicate with their patients. Such bullshit.

wonder Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Do any of the nurses appear to be native born, or
> they all immigrants from the third world?
>
> I swear to fuck I haven't seen a medical person
> that wasn't a foreigner in many years.
>
> Are Americans too stupid to make it through
> medical/nursing school anymore?

What you're seeing is the broadening of responsibilities for nursing technicians...a decreasing of responsibilities (but not hours) for nurses...and an ever decreasing of responsibilities for doctors.

Nursing technicians are almost always non-white savages. They spend more time with patients than anyone. They take their temperature, change bed linen, empty bedpans and any other "gopher tasks" the patients require. They are the workhorses.

Nurses act as liasons between doctors and nursing techs. Nurses dispense medications and provide immediate responses to emergency situations.

Doctors oversee the process with little to no hands on outside of surgeries or procedures. I was in the hospital for two months last year. I'd see the nursing techs every hour...the nurses 4 times per day and the doctor once per day.

The doctor's visit was literally, "How are you feeling today? Good, good...Any questions? No? Ok, see you tomorrow." and all the while his head buried in his phone, tablet PC and never giving me a chance to respond.

I guess I can't complain because I'm still alive and in perfect health...

I gotta agree. The nurses in this area are great! One problem though, why are most of them FAT? With a background in medicine, don't you think they would know how to take care of themselves?

Truther Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> wonder Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Do any of the nurses appear to be native born,
> or
> > they all immigrants from the third world?
> >
> > I swear to fuck I haven't seen a medical person
> > that wasn't a foreigner in many years.
> >
> > Are Americans too stupid to make it through
> > medical/nursing school anymore?
>
> What you're seeing is the broadening of
> responsibilities for nursing technicians...a
> decreasing of responsibilities (but not hours) for
> nurses...and an ever decreasing of
> responsibilities for doctors.
>
> Nursing technicians are almost always non-white
> savages. They spend more time with patients than
> anyone. They take their temperature, change bed
> linen, empty bedpans and any other "gopher tasks"
> the patients require. They are the workhorses.
>
> Nurses act as liasons between doctors and nursing
> techs. Nurses dispense medications and provide
> immediate responses to emergency situations.
>
> Doctors oversee the process with little to no
> hands on outside of surgeries or procedures. I was
> in the hospital for two months last year. I'd see
> the nursing techs every hour...the nurses 4 times
> per day and the doctor once per day.
>
> The doctor's visit was literally, "How are you
> feeling today? Good, good...Any questions? No? Ok,
> see you tomorrow." and all the while his head
> buried in his phone, tablet PC and never giving me
> a chance to respond.
>
> I guess I can't complain because I'm still alive
> and in perfect health...

I'd like to chime in, as I AM a nurse and I happen to work at an Inova Facility. Yes, I'm an American, and quite obviously so. I did not have a 4.0 GPA, but I worked my ass off through nursing school so that I could help people who needed it. I couldn't spend another day in front of a computer and in boring meetings. I wanted to actually DO something when I went to work!
While you're correct that the "techs" do the vital signs and change linens, I'd invite you to spend a shift in my shoes. Nurses do not simply "pass medications" and "respond to emergencies." We talk to the doctors to let them know if you're in pain, if your vitals are abnormal or anything like that... but we also do a lot of "behind the scenes" work that you would never even know about. Do you think the medicines "Magically appear" on the unit? No, we have to deal with pharmacy and the doctors to make sure we have what we need. We do a LOT of patient interaction. In fact, in most cases, we don't HAVE techs on the floor because of call-outs/cancellations or other reasons. While I can't speak for all of my colleagues, I know for a fact that I'm in my patient's room every hour... all 5+ of them... talking to the families (a biggie when they've been stuck in the hospital all day/week and just want to feel "normal" again) and finding out what I can do to make their stay easier for them!

I would say that I hope that next time you're hospitalized, one of the "non-white savage" techs skips over your room while you're busy with a fever, going septic with your IV infiltrating and your blood pressure dangerously low... but that wouldn't be very nurse-like of me. Next time you're at Inova... ask a nurse if you can follow her around for a shift... then you tell me who the "work horses" are!!

Iknowthatplace Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Truther Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > wonder Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Do any of the nurses appear to be native
> born,
> > or
> > > they all immigrants from the third world?
> > >
> > > I swear to fuck I haven't seen a medical
> person
> > > that wasn't a foreigner in many years.
> > >
> > > Are Americans too stupid to make it through
> > > medical/nursing school anymore?
> >
> > What you're seeing is the broadening of
> > responsibilities for nursing technicians...a
> > decreasing of responsibilities (but not hours)
> for
> > nurses...and an ever decreasing of
> > responsibilities for doctors.
> >
> > Nursing technicians are almost always non-white
> > savages. They spend more time with patients
> than
> > anyone. They take their temperature, change bed
> > linen, empty bedpans and any other "gopher
> tasks"
> > the patients require. They are the workhorses.
> >
> > Nurses act as liasons between doctors and
> nursing
> > techs. Nurses dispense medications and provide
> > immediate responses to emergency situations.
> >
> > Doctors oversee the process with little to no
> > hands on outside of surgeries or procedures. I
> was
> > in the hospital for two months last year. I'd
> see
> > the nursing techs every hour...the nurses 4
> times
> > per day and the doctor once per day.
> >
> > The doctor's visit was literally, "How are you
> > feeling today? Good, good...Any questions? No?
> Ok,
> > see you tomorrow." and all the while his head
> > buried in his phone, tablet PC and never giving
> me
> > a chance to respond.
> >
> > I guess I can't complain because I'm still
> alive
> > and in perfect health...
>
> I'd like to chime in, as I AM a nurse and I happen
> to work at an Inova Facility. Yes, I'm an
> American, and quite obviously so. I did not have a
> 4.0 GPA, but I worked my ass off through nursing
> school so that I could help people who needed it.
> I couldn't spend another day in front of a
> computer and in boring meetings. I wanted to
> actually DO something when I went to work!
> While you're correct that the "techs" do the vital
> signs and change linens, I'd invite you to spend a
> shift in my shoes. Nurses do not simply "pass
> medications" and "respond to emergencies." We talk
> to the doctors to let them know if you're in pain,
> if your vitals are abnormal or anything like
> that... but we also do a lot of "behind the
> scenes" work that you would never even know about.
> Do you think the medicines "Magically appear" on
> the unit? No, we have to deal with pharmacy and
> the doctors to make sure we have what we need. We
> do a LOT of patient interaction. In fact, in most
> cases, we don't HAVE techs on the floor because of
> call-outs/cancellations or other reasons. While I
> can't speak for all of my colleagues, I know for a
> fact that I'm in my patient's room every hour...
> all 5+ of them... talking to the families (a
> biggie when they've been stuck in the hospital all
> day/week and just want to feel "normal" again) and
> finding out what I can do to make their stay
> easier for them!
>
> I would say that I hope that next time you're
> hospitalized, one of the "non-white savage" techs
> skips over your room while you're busy with a
> fever, going septic with your IV infiltrating and
> your blood pressure dangerously low... but that
> wouldn't be very nurse-like of me. Next time
> you're at Inova... ask a nurse if you can follow
> her around for a shift... then you tell me who the
> "work horses" are!!

When I was hospitalized for cancer (first at Inova Alexandria), the nurses were nothing short of fantastic. The techs did their job. The doctors did their job, but it was the nurses who cared. They paid very close attention to me and managed my pain expertly. They are the best and I always thank nurses in general when I see them, so thank you Iknowthatplace. They have to put up with a lot of shit from all sides, including patients, but they still take the time to care, no matter what country they were from. They are the absolute best.

Archie Bunker Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I gotta agree. The nurses in this area are great!
> One problem though, why are most of them FAT?
> With a background in medicine, don't you think
> they would know how to take care of themselves?

try working such a stressful job where all you have time to do is grab a junk food snack, no time to sit and eat healthy. not easy to take care of yourself when you are trying to take care of other people all day long!

@ iknowthatplace and all the nurses.... Thank You!

Sometimes my gf dresses like a nurse and gives me an enema. That's great too.

USMC: you are more than welcome. I went into this field for a reason, knowing full-well what the work entitled and what I was getting myself into. I go home knowing that for 12 hours, my patient's were well taken care of and were as comfortable as possible. I may not "cure" everyone in one shift, but at least I know I've done all I could to make them happy for 12 hours at a time!

I agree was there twice and they were great