Reply With QuoteI read the sworn statements of this registered nurse as well as the sworn statements of two CNA's who cared for Ms Schiavo who said they were instructed not to do ROM on her, nor were they to put folded washcloths in her hands to prevent contractures, or brush her teeth and do mouth care. They also said that Ms Schiavo was confined to her room for years at the direction of her husband. I had to wonder, who signed off on this care? How many nurses over the years witnessed such willful neglect and said nothing? Are there no reporting requirements in Florida? Ms Schiavo died with severe contractures, recently missing teeth due to decay as well as a bedsore; all signs of serious nursing neglect. Every account I have read stated that the minutest details of her nursing care were dictated by the husband, himself a nurse. (He used money from the malpractice settlement award to attend nursing school after he testified that he wanted to study nursing so that he could care for his wife at home). How many Directors of Nursing knew about this substandard care of this poor woman? Which nurses instructed nurse's aides not to provide the same level of basic care to Ms Schiavo as they would be expected to give to any other patient? The whole thing is stuningly awful.
If people really want to get depressed I suggest going to the ANA's website and reading their position statement on this. Their position can be summed up to say that the legal guardian's wishes reign supreme, even if that guardian demands neglectful nursing care be given. They disingenuously refer to this as an "end of life" issue even though they MUST know that prior to the withdrawal of the enteral nutrition and hydration Ms Schiavo was not at "the end of life"; far from it and that was the problem as far as the husband was concerned. They also state that Ms Schiavo had left prior instruction as to what was to be done, another falsehood. The ANA took aim at the Congress and the President and shook their collective fingers. Funny they love them when they are passing, signing and funding the Nurse Reinvestment Act which has been a financial boon to their precious "Magnet Status" program and their for profit subsidiary, the ANCC. They were happy, though, to have received a letter from Donald Rumsfeld addressing their concerns over what kind of nursing care prisoners in Iraq are getting. Perhaps if poor Ms Schiavo were a convicted terrorist the ANA would have worried about her nursing care, too. But, no. Her crime was to be profoundly disabled and unwanted by her legal guardian and for that she was sentenced to death with the blessings of the ANA.
