If They Could See What Nurses See: Health Care Reform Passes

     I wish declaring war on Iraq had stirred the same amount of energy which Health Care Reform has. Each endeavor involves spending huge sums of money and pivots on lives in the balance.

     The anger of those opposing Health Care Reform is vehement. Crowds shouting slurs at senators, threatening them with violence in voice messages for voting in favor of the bill, while prominent citizen and member of the opposition Sarah Palin tweets Don’t Retreat, instead RELOAD! to her followers demonstrates that no one is safe from bullying and workplace violence. 

     I would like Health Care Reform to go further, still, it’s a big step towards the betterment of the lives of our citizens. Its importance became real to me last week, just days after the bill’s passage, as I listened to young patients living with treatable, chronic illnesses tell me that they are enrolling in college, or taking the job offered to them, because they no longer have to plan their lives around qualifying for disability payments for their pre-existing conditions. Hearing young adult patients express how a future of independence has suddenly opened up for them, because Health Care Reform passed brought tears to my eyes. I wonder if those who oppose Health Care Reform are so blind that a tear could not escape from their eyes too, if they could see what nurses see.