Yesterday I got a call from a former co-worker (Let's say her name is "Hope.") She wanted to name me as a reference on a job application. I said I'd be happy to recommend her, any time. I know Hope to be an excellent geriatric nursing assistant. She's experienced, hard working, kind to her patients, passionate on their behalf, a believer in teamwork.

Also, Hope is just plain fun to talk to. And so once we'd dispensed with the job application business, I got to gabbing with her.

For a moment it was like old times when we used to take a breather in the nursing office, or when we'd walk the corridors side-by-side between visits to our patients, late into the evening shift. Back then, if you'd have been the eavesdropping fly on the wall, you'd have thought Hope and I were griping about work, because we often talked heatedly about things that weren't going right.

But the thing is, Hope was never merely a griper. While she was passionately talking about the problems, she was actually batting away at whatever stood between her and the goal. And the goal was always to give her patients the care they deserved. In other words, Hope's griping was a form of problem solving.

Sadly, on the phone yesterday, I learned that Hope has changed her ways. She says it isn't even worth talking about the problems anymore. She says she's vowed-after all these years-that from now on she will do the best she can, given the short-staffing, and just keep her mouth shut. "It's all about the money anyway," she said. "They don't care what I think."

It's hard for me to imagine Hope keeping her mouth shut. But I can understand why she's giving up. Many of the problems healthcare workers face today-short staffing, changes to healthcare benefits, patient care decisions being made by insurance companies--seem so complicated, so far beyond the reach of our ideas for change. Why bother talking about it, especially when you could very well talk yourself right out of a job?

After I said goodbye and hung up the phone, I made a vow of my own. I'm going to say again and again to every healthcare worker I know, and to those I can reach through Healthcare United: Keep talking about it.

Because even though the problems in our ailing healthcare delivery system seem large and complicated and insurmountable, this is still America, where lots of voices together can wield power. When the 12 million healthcare workers in this country get together and talk about change, all of America will listen. Because it's not just griping. Because we who work in the ailing system know exactly what we're talking about.

Keep talking about it. So we can all get back to work, taking care of the people who need us-all of them, not just the ones who can afford it.

Flickr photo credit: Boliston

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