在黑暗中寻找快乐

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In 2020, a nonprofit organization, Nurse Heroes, invited nurses from New York's Northwell Health system to participate in a fundraising effort for nursing scholarships. Along with celebrity guests, the nurses appeared singing in a video that aired on Thanksgiving Day. That appearance led to 18 of the nurses successfully auditioning for the widely watched television show America's Got Talent (AGT), and subsequently performing as the Northwell Health Nurses Choir this past June. The choir's performance earned the nurses a trip to Hollywood and more live performances as they progressed all the way to the competition finals. (Watch their performances here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSvNWOiObv0.) Although the choir did not win, its AGT appearances provided a shining light moment for the nurses and for nursing. (For more information about the choir, see On the Cover.)

The group represents the diversity of nursing. The choir's song choices were thoughtful and a fit for what nurses—and indeed, their patients—experienced during the pandemic. Songs like “Don't Give Up on Me,” “You Are Not Alone,” “Lean on Me,” and “Stand by Me” poignantly reflected the nurses' work. When asked why they did this, one choir member explained in an interview, “It was . . . a trying time for all of us, but one thing that brought us some hope was music.” Another mentioned the need to find joy during a dark time. The AGT judges and audiences lauded them not only for their performances but also for their work as nurses, and the comments on the performance videos on YouTube reflect admiration and respect.

But now “stand by me” could easily represent what nurses and other health care workers are asking of the public, as those who were cheered for their work a few months ago are the targets of anger from patients and families today. Families are frustrated by restrictive visiting rules, mask requirements in hospitals, and watching their loved ones dying from COVID-19, and they are taking their frustration out on health care workers. Some families believe that lifesaving treatments are being withheld. Some have even sued hospitals that refuse to administer unproven treatments like ivermectin (a drug used as a deworming agent).

There are numerous reports of nurse and family encounters escalating to the point of physical violence. According to a September National Nurses United survey of 5,000 nurses, 31% of hospital RNs said they faced workplace violence, up from 22% in March. With a shortage of personnel contributing to long waits for treatment and admission; the general climate against vaccinations and masking; and frustrated, scared families demanding action from exhausted and overwhelmed health professionals, it's no wonder situations have become confrontational and violent.

In Congress, the House recently passed the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (HR 1195), which would require most health care facilities “to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan . . . to protect health care workers, social service workers, and other personnel from workplace violence.” It's currently languishing in the Senate, but even if the bill passes, it will take years to implement.

Some organizations are already taking steps to protect staff. In Branson, Missouri, Cox Medical Center, after seeing patient assaults triple in a year, issued panic buttons to staff to rapidly alert security. Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Michigan, added trained dogs to security personnel to prevent incidents.

Nurses didn't sign up for months of being at risk, for risking their families' lives, and for being subjected to abuse and attacks from those they are trying to help. And now, when so many preventable hospitalizations and deaths continue to drain nurses' dwindling reserves, the public seems to have forgotten the toll this pandemic has taken on those they once deemed heroes.

Hospital nurses are becoming an endangered species and protections need to be put in place to ensure their survival. If the public and health care organizations expect nurses to be there when needed, then they need to ensure nurses have the protections of a safe workplace. Nurses don't care about being heroes. They want to be respected, protected, and enabled to do their jobs.

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2020年，一个非营利组织 "护士英雄 "邀请纽约诺斯韦尔卫生系统的护士们参加为护理奖学金的筹款活动。与名人嘉宾一起，护士们出现在感恩节播出的视频中唱歌。这次亮相导致18名护士成功地参加了广受关注的电视节目《美国达人》（AGT）的试镜，并随后在今年6月作为诺斯韦尔健康护士合唱团进行表演。合唱团的表演为护士们赢得了好莱坞之旅和更多的现场表演，因为他们一路走到了比赛的决赛。(在这里观看他们的表演：www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSvNWOiObv0。)虽然合唱团没有获胜，但其在AGT的表现为护士和护理工作提供了一个闪亮的时刻。(关于合唱团的更多信息，请看封面）。

该小组代表了护理工作的多样性。合唱团的歌曲选择是经过深思熟虑的，适合护士和他们的病人在大流行期间所经历的情况。像 "不要放弃我"、"你不是一个人"、"靠着我 "和 "站在我身边 "这样的歌曲深刻地反映了护士们的工作。当被问及他们为什么这样做时，一位合唱团成员在采访中解释说："那是......对我们所有人来说都是一个艰难的时刻，但有一件事给我们带来了一些希望，那就是音乐"。另一位提到需要在黑暗时期找到快乐。AGT评委和观众不仅称赞他们的表演，还称赞他们作为护士的工作，YouTube上的表演视频的评论反映了钦佩和尊重。

但是现在，"站在我这边 "很容易代表护士和其他卫生保健工作者对公众的要求，因为那些几个月前还在为他们的工作欢呼的人，今天成了病人和家属愤怒的目标。家属们对限制性的探视规则、医院里的口罩要求以及看着他们的亲人死于COVID-19而感到沮丧，他们正在把他们的挫折感发泄到医护人员身上。一些家庭认为，拯救生命的治疗被扣留了。一些人甚至起诉了拒绝实施伊维菌素（一种用作驱虫剂的药物）等未经证实的治疗的医院。

有许多报告称，护士和家属的接触升级到了身体暴力的地步。根据9月份全国护士联盟对5000名护士的调查，31%的医院护士说他们面临工作场所暴力，比3月份的22%有所上升。由于人员短缺，导致治疗和入院的等待时间过长；反对接种疫苗和遮盖的普遍气氛；以及沮丧、恐惧的家庭要求疲惫不堪、不堪重负的卫生专业人员采取行动，难怪情况会变得对立和暴力。

在国会，众议院最近通过了《保健和社会服务人员工作场所暴力预防法案》（HR 1195），该法案要求大多数保健设施 "制定和实施全面的工作场所暴力预防计划......以保护保健工作人员、医疗机构和社会团体。...以保护医疗保健工作者、社会服务工作者和其他人员免受工作场所暴力"。该法案目前在参议院搁置，但即使该法案获得通过，也需要数年时间才能实施。

一些机构已经在采取措施保护员工。在密苏里州的布兰森，考克斯医疗中心在看到病人被攻击一年内增加了三倍之后，向员工发放了恐慌按钮，以迅速提醒保安。密歇根州兰辛市的斯帕罗医院为保安人员增加了训练有素的狗，以防止事件发生。

护士们并不是为了几个月的危险，为了让他们的家人冒着生命危险，为了遭受他们试图帮助的人的虐待和攻击而报名的。而现在，当这么多可预防的住院和死亡事件继续耗尽护士日益减少的储备时，公众似乎已经忘记了这场大流行病对他们曾经视为英雄的人造成的损失。

医院护士正在成为一个濒临灭绝的物种，需要制定保护措施以确保他们的生存。如果公众和医疗机构期望护士在需要的时候出现，那么他们需要确保护士有一个安全的工作场所的保护。护士们并不关心成为英雄。他们希望得到尊重、保护，并能够完成他们的工作。

原文链接：

https://journals.lww.com/ajnonline/Fulltext/2021/12000/Finding_Joy_in_the_Dark.1.aspx