Asklemmy

I share my experiences as a nurse both in psychiatry and as an employee of a large regional health center with both COVID and with the modern mental health system. I hope that by bringing some light (as much as I can while protecting my patient's privacy) to what I'm seeing will help sway enough people's opinions. I both want them to act better in their everyday lives, and to help inform their own political/voting decisions.

In particular lately I've been screenshotting propoganda posts and posting them with explanations of how Healthcare administrators are twisting the perspective to make themselves sound less disgustingly greedy. I try to draw attention to the issue they're trying to dance around.

The two biggest issues to me are:

Saying Safe Staffing/Nurse:Patient ratios interfere with the hospitals abilities to make decisions about their staffing that account for acuity - yes. It prevents them from deciding to understaff the facility. Nobody ever used how sick the patients are to assign MORE staff, only ever less.

Saying the nursing wage cap is only about the travel agencies taking too big of a cut - they're taking that cut in exchange for having had to step in and negotiate for the nurses on matters of wage and safety. If the hospitals would stop union-busting, or (god forbid) just treat the nurses right to begin with, they wouldn't be having this problem in the first place. In fact, if they offered me half of what my traveler coworker makes after the agency has already taken their cut I would never leave. This isn't about the travel agencies, it's about keeping nurse's pay low and it always has been.

Actually one more!

The reason my psychiatric patients don't keep up with their meds and therapy is because the insurance agencies have intentionally muddled and complicated the process of receiving care because it increases their profits. A huge number of my patients have medicaid because they are unable to work and financially unstable. Medicaid is distributed by my state's insurance agencies. So whether or not a patient sees a doctor, the insurance company is getting a government check for that patient. It's easy with psych patients. They're not stupid but they are easy to overwhelm. Make sure they have to fill out more than 2 forms or have to make more than 1 phone call and the anxiety and inability to drag themselves out of bed hits and they just never get around to calling the doctor and that insurance company gets to keep the check in exchange for literally nothing. Insurance companies are literally evil and the age of the guillotine is nigh.

I try to advocate for FOSS software with the intention of protecting peoples data from big tech company surveillance. I want to do more so maybe I'll write a letter to my town hall with the premise of "Public Money, Public Code"

I do LGBT activism mostly. And recently I also joined my local Extinction Rebellion node.

I'm a branch secretary and activist for the Workers Party of Britain and also a member of a communist party, as well as a very active member of ACORN, a community union. I spend most of my time leading and supporting member defence cases for ACORN members who have issues with their landlords, but I also occasionally do public speaking engagements, comms activities, party journalism, reading groups etc...

Showing up on LGBT pride events, donating to worthwhile causes, planning to join a union

None, because Anxiety and fear. :(

This is an interesting question. I don’t even know what I’m doing, a lot of interesting things. Martial arts gave more than 35 years of life, a master of sports in boxing, hobbies - programming, archeology and theology. I love animals, there is an ostrich, an owl, dogs, cats and smart mice. )