Thanking the Unsung Heroes of Injury Care: Nurses

One of the best parts about the holiday season is that it gives us the opportunity to truly reflect on those who enrich our lives. In our work as a personal injury law firm in San Francisco and throughout Northern California, we talk to many victims who have recently undergone emergency care and hospital stays. We are proud to serve as attorneys for accident victims in San Francisco, but we know that there is a group of true heroes who make a real difference in the days after an injury. We applaud a recent piece on CNN that recognizes an often under-appreciated part of the medical system, the nurses.

As the CNN article points out, most doctors are able to schedule holiday shifts to accommodate family traditions. While some are on call, most still get to enjoy the season with their families. However, there must always be a full contingent of nurses on duty to care for those who are spending the holiday in a hospital bed recovering from either illness or injury. A hospital patient often spends many more hours with the nurses than with the doctors, but nurses rarely get the credit they are due. They work long shifts, often twelve hours at a time, yet they remain ready to not only care for the health of their patients but also to brighten their spirits with warmth and little acts of kindness.

Thanking nurses is particularly timely this year. As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle, nurses at several Bay Area hospitals are participating in a one-day strike this week. The nurses are protesting contract changes that would impact their union representation and their sick day allowance. The hospital system, Sutter Health, was given notice of the strike so they were prepared to bring in replacement workers to limit the impact on patient care.

We are not involved in the contract negotiations between the nurses and the healthcare system and we cannot comment directly on the merit of the protests. We do, however, work with San Francisco automobile accident victims on a daily basis. We know from their stories how much impact a good nurse can make. A hospital stay after an accident is filled with both physical and emotional challenges, with the latter extending to the victim’s loved ones as well. During the stay, nurses provide care and monitoring at all hours of day and night. They monitor vital signs, administer medicine, and tend to medical needs of their patients. Many also provide emotional support with a simple smile or an extra gesture like making sure “Get Well” flowers sit where the patient can enjoy them or a child’s dropped teddy bear is returned to her bed.

We hope you and your loved ones have no need for hospital care this holiday season. If you do find yourself as a patient or a visitor, do take care to thank your nurses and their support staff. They work hard and we admire them.

If you or a loved one is the victim of an accident, medical care should be your first concern. Once the immediate medical needs are addressed, reaching out to a skilled San Francisco personal injury attorney is also key. The Brod Law Firm team can help you recover for the economic losses related to your injury and help you move forward. We will never claim to provide the same care nurses do, but we are proud to be of service to injury victims and to help them receive the compensation they need and deserve.