Cutbacks in RN Care

Re “Lifeline of Nurses Is Thinning,” Aug. 4:

The RN is not just the “caring” part of care. In truth, a lesser-educated person could easily do that. The critical components of adequate RN care are the knowledge of the disease process, surgery or injury, the ability to assess deviations from the norm and the wisdom and authority to intervene when things go wrong.

Recently, my husband suffered a life-threatening complication of his surgery. Because I was at his bedside, recognized the problem immediately and activated an emergency response, the event is now just a bad memory. If, however, an untrained aide had been responsible, the results could have been catastrophic.

Although “two to four years” is commonly declared to be RN preparation, the two-year RN has studied 1 1/2 to two years of prerequisites prior to starting his or her two-year nursing program. The four-year program may be five years. The AA or diploma nurse commonly studies another two years to achieve a BS (for which she will receive little increase in pay) and many nurses choose to pursue an MSN, to enable them to provide “cutting edge” care. Their compensation is usually about that of a nurse manager.

In time, statistical outcomes will demonstrate the cost of replacing RNs with minimally trained helpers, and the cycle will be reversed. In the meantime, we are growing old, and it is frightening.

PATRICIA A. FYLER RN

Brea