Medical care and the nursing profession
Re: “First aid for ‘problem’ nurses,” Feb. 28 Al Lewis column.
Nurse Donna Jaynes is oh-so-correct about hospital corporations these days. As a nurse of 33 years, I have observed that, indeed, hospital care has evolved from patient-committed care to managed care that seems to value profits over patient welfare. Patient acuity (the level of care a person needs relative to illness) is much higher today, secondary to that same managed care, as less acutely ill patients are not admitted, but treated as outpatients. Most nursing floors are so tightly staffed that the nurses are overwhelmed and cannot give the level of care that is necessary for patient safety and recovery. They are rushed and stressed and are frustrated that they cannot give the level of care that they would like. Many leave the hospital setting for less stressful jobs.
My advice to patients and their families these days? Be happy if you have a “troublemaker” nurse caring for you. She is your best friend; she has your best interests in mind. Also, have a family member or friend with you when you are in the hospital to make sure you receive the level of care that you deserve. I surely will.
Terri Weinkauf, RN, Morrison
Teacher’s reinstatement to classroom
I will not be adding my voice to those congratulating Jay Bennish on his reinstatement to his job at Overland High School. His assessment that, rather than comparing President Bush to Hitler, he “should have chosen another dictator” shows that Bennish has learned nothing in the past weeks.
Perhaps as Bennish grows in his career, he will learn that a student’s education is enhanced not so much by a teacher’s engaging in a long-winded diatribe about the evils of his country and capitalism, nor the engendering of a skeptical attitude and disrespect for one’s country and leaders. One would not expect to find such ilk having any real contribution to the country’s future safety and prosperity.
Perhaps a little experience living in real oppressed or distressed lands would provide Bennish better perspective on his own country. Perchance a sabbatical in China, with requisite side trip to Tiananman Square?
Barry Nash, Denver
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I applaud the Cherry Creek School District for keeping Jay Bennish, the social studies teacher at Overland High School. The students and district benefit, as do teaching and education.
Maturity on the district’s behalf to recognize promise in a young teacher is commendable. That he needs “growth and refinement” demonstrates Superintendent Monte Moses’ commitment to teaching teachers to teach well. Through all of this the district’s discernment process appears to model the critical thinking that Bennish is attempting to prompt within his classroom. Certainly he brings more to students than such contrivances as CSAP and No Child Left Behind.
It seems to me, from what has been reported, that he is teaching that there are some things more important than money, that political leaders have moral responsibilities, and perhaps U.S. foriegn policy can be improved. Imagine the sagacious irony years from now: Jay Bennish cited correctly in his comparison.
Ted Kean, Denver
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The reaffirmation of Jay Bennish in the classroom only serves to show right-thinking Americans that we are allowing a segment of society to preach a diatribe thatfosters hate against this great nation, its leaders, and its undertaking to make the world a better place. If this teacher wasn’t a product of the post-modern secular progressive education system, then he might have gotten a real education, based on facts, not on history rewritten. We can’t really blame him for being ignorant. But we don’t have to tolerate it. Consider Colorado written off as a vacation destination by this family, and many more who have had their fill of these hateful anti-American acts.
Michael E. Payne, Intercourse, Pa.
Catholic Church and legislative sex-abuse bills
As a Catholic, I am a lifelong beneficiary of 12 years of education by Franciscan nuns and parish priests and upbringing by a devout, Irish Catholic mother. Thanks to them, values of honesty, justice, courage and concern for the less powerful were deeply instilled. Two of the most important lessons among many they taught were:
The end doesn’t justify the means. It is clear over the past several weeks that the archdiocese has been using means – vilifying legislative leaders, smokescreens about public schools, pandering about anti-Catholicism – to justify their ends. The ends are the defeat of any Colorado law that would provide for a window in the statute of limitations and accountability via civil suits for abuse by priests and coverup by the Archdiocese.
If I did something that was questionable morally and tried to justify it by saying that others did it, that excuse didn’t stand the test with teachers, priests nor parents. Initially I was embarrassed as a Catholic by the testimony and comments by the archbishop’s representatives. That turned to shame as the archbishop’s representatives have:
1) Never committed themselves to supporting a bill that includes public employees and institutions but also provides civil penalties and a window on the statute of limitations; and
2) Testified they did not even know if the archdiocese had insurance, which I am sure they do.
I am not a victim nor family member of a victim, but I do support them in the passage of Senate Bill 143 and House Bills 1088 and 1090.
Thomas E. Knauer, Westminster
Lexus lanes on I-25
Re: “HOT-lane users on I-25 may pay up to $3.25,” March 10 news story.
I was amazed to read that well-to-do Denverites will now be able to pay $3.25 to use HOV lanes on Interstate 25 to buy their way out of having to face rush-hour traffic with the riff-raff of working stiffs like me. I was laboring under the delusion that HOV lanes were designed for multi-occupant vehicle use to encourage carpooling, reduce pollution and save gasoline, not to make city travel easier for the elite. For those who want to buy their way into these lanes, at least make them pay $25 per use and have the fees go to a worthy cause, like public schools.
Thomas Bown, Boulder
U.S. port security
Now that the ports deal fiasco has been defused, let’s make the deal for real by passing legislation that makes it illegal for foreign governments to own a security interest in our ports. The president’s friends in the United Arab Emirates have given him a way to avoid this controversy, but I do not believe for a second that this is over. Get to work on passing meaningful legislation requiring ownership of all aspects of the ports be by U.S. companies or government.
Craig Gassen, Denver
Oil and gas drilling
Re: “Drilling may hit rare ferrets’ turf,” March 8 news story.
I was disheartened with the article regarding the possible drilling for natural gas east of Rangely, where 189 black-footed ferrets call home. It sickens me that the Bureau of Land Management, which had a “partnership” with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and state Division of Wildlife in the reintroduction of the ferrets, would even consider “leasing” a portion of this land to the oil and gas industry. These ferrets, on the endangered species list, are an important part of our ecosystem, and are finally making a comeback. Why can’t the oil and gas industry find someplace else to drill and leave these animals alone?
While I realize that nature is always going to be affected no matter where drilling happens, the simple fact that a near-extinct animal is being threatened with drilling in their habitat makes me realize where priorities are.
John Earl, Trinidad
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