Running Head: Super Nurses 1

Emma Treuil
Super Nurses
Louisiana State University

Authors Note

This paper is arranged for English 2001, taught by professor Coco. The author wants to thank all

of the Doctors, Professors, and people that helped with the information throughout the paper. The

case study I used was Role Negotiation, Stress, and Burnout: A day in the Life of Supernurse

written by Julie Apker. The following Artile is written for first year nursing students.
Super Nurse 2

April 17, 2017

Dr. Boudreaux
Director and Administrator of Communications
West Jefferson Hospital
1101 Medical Center Boulevard
Marrero, La 70072

Phone: 504-460-6991
Fax: 504-368-4939
Nursetreuiltotherescue.com

Dear West Jefferson Medical Center,

I am here to discuss the problems at hand that I have discovered while being at your
hospital. First, let me introduce myself. My name is Emma Treuil and I have been staying at your
hospital with my Grandmother, Lucille Treuil. She has received poor quality care while being
here, and I just wanted to bring it to your attention. She was brought into the emergency room
with congestive heart failure and fluid retention in her abdomen which needed to be drained.
After further supervision, she was admitted into a hospital room to be examined more deeply. Dr.
Cospolich made the decision that she needed a pacemaker. While in the hospital room, before
and after surgery, she received barely any care. I could tell that she was under-cared for and that
your staff was being pulled into too many directions. The nurse that was taking care of her barely
checked in on her and it was making me worried. I myself am a nurse at Ochnser Main campus,
and I was having to help your patient. That is unacceptable. I should not have to be helping your
staff take care of my grandmother. Also, when I mentioned to the young nurse that was takin care
of my grandmother that I was a nurse; I could see a look of relief. She asked me for my help and
I willingly offered it to her. In order for your nurses and other staff members to be 100% there
for their patients, I suggest that you hire more staff members. According to CQ Research,
Nationwide, there was a shortage in 2001 of 126,000 full-time RNs, but the shortage will surge
to 808,000 by 2020 is something isnt done. If you continue to underpay your staff members
and force them to be pulled into too many directions, and not be able to offer their patients the
care they are needed, then you are going to be having a lot less patients and staff members.

I am sorry for coming off so rude, but I was just making a recommendation that you fix the
problem that I have addressed to you above. I myself feel as though I can understand the
challenged of being part of a medical staff and being able to juggle so many things at one time,
as well as having the difficulty of not giving patients 100% the attention that they need. Being
that we are in the 21st century, it should not be too hard of a problem to find nurses. The Nursing
and Allied Health Database stated
We are now experiencing an increased demand for nurses in general as well as for

experienced nurses in selected specialties. The demand is due to the combination of an

aging population with a greater need for health care in a wider range of settings, higher
Super Nurse 3

acuity among specialized patients, and an increasingly diverse health care industry with a

wider range of nursing job opportunities.

I know that with budget cuts and other obstacles standing in the way that it may be hard for you
to hire more staff members in order to work with the hospitals budget. I can see that at Ochsner
that we were short on staff for a while until we had a patient pass away due to the nurse being
unable to check in as frequently that was needed. From personal experience, you will get more
patients to come to your hospital if you can have more staff members that can offer excellent
care to your patients.

I also understand being in charge of many people in a professional atmosphere can be very
stressful. I have been through many years of schooling, making me very qualified to be in the
position that I am in today. I first started out in nursing school, and after several years of
working, I decided to go to Nurse Practitioner school and graduated number 6 in my class. I
know the stresses of being pulled in many directions and I know what it feels like to have so
many people depend on you and being able to still run the hospital efficiently and effectively.

While I understand where you are coming from with hiring more staff members, I think it is in
your best interest to do so. While you are saving money by not hiring more people, you are
losing business causing you lose patients. I know being a nurse these days is very hard. In a 12
hour shift, it feels like you were working for 5 minutes because you are so busy that you dont
have time to think. When I go into work at 7 a.m, it is very hard to get a break. Most of the shifts
that I work, I do not have time to eat. On average, I cover a hallway because there are many of
my peers that have retired or quit due to being pulled in too many directions. I will be in one
patients room, and then one of my other patients will start screaming and that is enough for me.
If that is not enough, when my co-workers do not show up, I have to take care of there patients
on top of mine. It is a very demanding job, and nurses are also underpaid. That is another reason
that there is a nursing shortage. As the nursing shortage peaked, nurses who were left at the
bedside found working conditions unacceptable and many left the profession in search of other
work. In 2004 and 2005 the top four reasons for the nursing shortage were salary and benefits
issues (The Nursing Shortage continues as Faculty Shortage Grows). You would think that if
there were less nurses that they would be paid more, but that is not the case. I have told you what
I have thought about this predicament, and it is up to you now with what you want to do.

I know from all my grandmother has gone through and seeing what my patients have gone
through made me want to write a letter to you. I know that it is hard to hire other staff members
due to budget cuts and other issues, but something needs to happen in order to ensure better
patient quality. According some research that I did was to help you create new job opportunities
and to help you increase your nursing shortages. If you could start funding projects and programs
that could help you raise money for a good cause. I would be more than happy to help you start
some funding programs that would allow for more staff members that could help ensure better
patient care.

Sincerely,
Super Nurse 4

Emma Treuil

Emma Treuil N.P

etreuilnp@yahoo.com

CB/Is
Enclosure: Letter to West Jefferson Medical Center
Cc: Nursing Shortage

References
Super Nurse 5

Allen, L. (2008). The nursing shortage continues as faculty shortage grows. Nursing

Economics, 26(1), 35-40. Retrieved from

https://search.proquest.com/docview/236940600?accountid=12154

Apker, J. (2005). Role Negotiation, Stress, and Burnout: A Day in the Life of Supernurse. In

Rat. E.B., Health Communication in practice:(pp. 245-260). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence

Erlbaum Associates

Hansen, B. (2002, September 20). Nursing shortage. CQ Researcher, 12, 745-768. Retrieved

from http://library.cqpress.com.libezp.lib.lsu.edu/

Kelly, K. (2001). Another nursing shortage, a different nursing shortage. Chart, 98(2), 3.

Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/214709867?accountid=12154