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September 18, 2000

Seeking help

I am a nurse who moved from Florida two years ago to Houston. I was reading your article about hemolytic uremia in Dallas ("Rare illness strikes cluster of children," News Briefs, Aug. 21). I was very blessed because your article was the first I have read on hemolytic uremia in 10 years. Ten years ago, my two daughters contracted hemolytic uremia in Florida.

My daughter, Angela, who was 22 months old, contracted hemolytic uremia first. She went to the doctor two times with diarrhea. The second time I told the doctor that Angela wasn’t urinating well and her hands and feet were swelling. The doctor told me that it was a fluid shift and sent her home. The next day she had multiple bruises on her. Another doctor sent her to intensive care with heart monitors in renal failure. Within 24 hours she was flown to a specialty hospital in Gainesville, Fla., to have dialysis. After two dialysis treatments, her kidneys started to kick back except for kidney reflux.

Unfortunately, from the second dialysis treatment, a clot went unnoticed. We have been through 10 years of leg pain and large medical bills. Angela still gets knots and clots in her leg and it is very deformed. Doctors say that there is nothing that they can do.

At the same time Angela was taken to the hospital, my other daughter Melissa, who was 8 years old, was having bloody diarrhea. Melissa was taken to the specialty hospital in Gainesville within one week in renal failure also. She was diagnosed with hemolytic uremia. Both received blood transfusions. Melissa’s kidneys kicked back quicker and she didn’t need dialysis. My son was tested and was negative.

I am writing this letter for two reasons. The first reason is to obtain any information about the disease. The doctors at that time told me that there were only six cases of hemolytic uremia in Georgia and Florida combined and that the disease runs in clusters. The doctors thought that it was a type of allergic reaction to the bacteria in the stool. From your article, it sounds as if health officials have not found any new information in 10 years.

The second reason is to find out about any type of support groups or help groups available. If I can help any of the families, I will be happy to do so. Please help me with any information you can.

Susan DeToni
Houston

A different view

In response to "Nurse, Interrupted" (Aug. 21), I offer an alternative point of view. My viewpoint is based on more than 41 years direct hands-on experience as a registered nurse. I have served coast-to-coast, in many nursing environments.

For the past 10 years, I have served as an RN-C, for a state government facility in San Antonio.

Since the article emphasized discipline, let’s examine what is really going on. The Board of Nurse Examiners (BNE) has become so punitive that it actually contributes toward dimished patient care. Yet, its alleged reason for existence is to "protect the public." It is not protecting the public. It is too busy attempting punitive actions against nurses who are, many times, innocent of allegations.

The BNE does not actually investigate the allegations. It simply interviews the person(s) doing the accusing. Is there a problem with this picture?

Over the past 10 years, I have personally known registered nurses who had to hire a lawyer to defend them. In each case that I observed, the nurse was found innocent of wrongdoing and the charges were dismissed. Most of the time, the nurse then resigned from the organization, after her/his name was cleared, and worked elsewhere. Is this discipline, or downright oppression?

Also, over the past 10 years, I have personally observed that competent nurses are attacked and incompetent nurses are rewarded. This is a situation that certainly diminishes patient care. In fact, this particular aspect of nursing discipline has caused several nurses who I know to leave the nursing career field. Isn’t this yet another case of misdirected discipline?

I support proper, nonbiased, accurate discipline of any person who is not doing their duty in accordance with the prescribed criteria by the state licensing authority. However, I cannot support punitive and arbitrary mismanagement of disciplinary issues.

Vivian M. Neelley, RN
San Antonio, Texas

Too soon to forget

How quickly we forget that there was not a problem with health care in America until Hillary Clinton decided it was time to fix something that was not broken. Typical of the Democratic tactic of divide and conquer.

Gore’s continuing lie about a mythical budget surplus won’t bail out America’s health care ills; only educated consumers will. Once again we hear promises but no real substance that will fix the problem. Increased government bureaucracy is not the answer. After eight years of Democratic posturing and pretense, let’s give real leadership a chance, and Gore is no leader.

Bob Waybright RN, MDiv
Fort Worth, Texas

Democratic bias

Not even two months after you run an article about the stampede of nurses across the border from Canada searching for U.S. jobs ("Northern Exposure," July 10), you run an issue almost solely devoted to the election of Al Gore for president.

You profile several nurses who have run for office, all Democrats. Does it not occur to the staff that put together this blatantly partisan issue of the magazine that Al Gore only wants to add further governmental regulation with eventual socialization of medicine as his goal?

Does the current job situation of nurses in Canada not make you worried in the least?

Bigger government is not a good solution to our health care problems in the United States.

Connie Severin, PT
Harker Heights, Texas

Crossed the border

In 1993, when there was a threat of layoffs and bumping, I didn’t wait around to see what would happen. I left my full-time job, packed up and headed south.

My husband was recently unemployed; we had just gotten married and there were 50 to 100 Canadians applying for every job posted.

We’ve become accustomed to the good life in Texas. We both have jobs, the taxes are low and the economy’s booming. It’s not just nursing jobs keeping Canadian nurses from going home. Take-home paychecks are about 55 pecent of your gross pay after taxes and deductions. Then you get taxed again with GST and PST on every purchase from groceries to cars.

Not only does the Canadian government not pay nurses, they don’t keep the facilities up to the standards we’ve learned to expect. There are waiting lists for critical tests for cancer patients and delays in treatment.

In a recent family emergency, I must say my father received top-notch care in the OR and ICU, but the shortage of nurses and the lack of resources were very evident when he got to the floor. It was eye-opening to see the condition of the buildings and equipment.

There must be some kind of happy medium between the U.S. medical system and socialized medicine. I don’t believe every little hospital needs a MRI and CT scan. But after a three-month waiting list, you’re either better or possibly beyond help.

Janine Cousineau, RN
Highland Village, Texas

Private or federal?

This was a timely piece with the election less than two months away. I've been in health care 20 years and cared for many patients with Medicare (federal government) insurance and MediCal (California government) insurance. Government insurance in my experience is inefficient requiring practitioners to jump hurdles to receive their payment and placing restrictions on patients as to where they can receive health care. As troubled as the private insurance industry is, it is still better than government insurance. I'm sorry to see the ANA endorsing the idea of increasing government insurance by supporting Gore.

M. Jeanne Christie, RN
Fullerton, Cailf.

Another choice

I am pleased to see you place some value on the candidacy of Ralph Nader and Winona LaDuke by including information about them in the latest NurseWeek.

Lucy Anne Tillett, MSN, RNC
Portland, Ore.

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