Once upon a Senator: On Sen. Walsh and the devastating power of words
“By your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” -Jesus
If you are in a healthcare circle, you’re probably well aware of the uproar a Washington Senator caused this week. In a last minute amendment tacked onto a bill meant to mandate a safe amount of rest breaks for nurses, Sen. Walsh put forward that all these problems would be solved by requiring an 8 hr limit to a nurses’ shift. Every healthcare worker knows that this would cause a devastating upheaval to hospitals everywhere, have a ruinous effect on nightshift workers, and cause a hemorrhage of nurses out of washington to surrounding saner states exacerbating staffing crises. The amendment was approved and every nurse in washington lost their mind.
The amendment was bad enough, but then video surfaced of the proceedings, exposing Sen. Walsh’s words towards nurses that were condescending, flippant, and down right rude. She mentioned us “talking out of both sides of our mouth”, eye-rolled about nurse fatigue, and speculated that nurses at critical access hospitals spent a good deal of their time playing cards. The video clips have spread like wildfire through online nursing communities and Senator Walsh has found herself going viral in a bad way. Memes are popping up everywhere, medical satire sites have seized upon the ludicrousness, her facebook page has exploded with diatribes from angry nurses, and she has up to now become the recipient of thousands of decks of playing cards.
I initially watched this transpire with dark satisfaction, because like my nursing colleagues the amendment and her associated comments left me furious. But as I’ve watched her social media driven downfall, I’m feeling the weight of the devastating power of words. I know nothing about this lady. Nothing about her life, her character, the battles she faced or the things that she’s done that she’s proud of. Few of us do. And none of us probably will. In statements that probably took 3-4 minutes she set her professional life on fire, and will now likely leave a legacy mostly marked by pissing off hordes of nurses nationwide. And it really didn’t help that she tried to find a way to blame the Democrats.
Our words are powerful. She could have proposed the amendment, it would have been wildly unpopular, but she would have shared the blame with the others who approved it. But she was rude. She was flippant. Her words and tone have singled her out as the villain. The vigilante justice of social media is swift and fierce and unforgiving. She has been metaphorically tarred and feathered and few will stick around to hear her defense or weigh her by her other actions.
The book of James compares our tongues to a wildfire with far reaching destructive power. Sometimes our words destroys others, sometimes we torch the floor under our own feet. These stories should carry caution for all of us. Because everyone of us has areas where we are ignorant, where we might be too quick to speak about something we don’t understand. We too can make statements in rude, ungracious ways. Be careful with your words. Especially in this day and age where social media can be your judge, jury, and executioner. And those in public positions should be more careful still.
The lesson of Senator Walsh is this: be careful with your words because they can be more destructive than you imagine.
And don’t mess with nurses.
