Why did Diana J. Mason even have to write "Resolutions Nurses Can Keep" (Editorial, January)? Can it be that nurses still don't know that breast milk is better than formula or that they should question a physician's medication order, even if the physician is cranky? Several recent personal experiences have fueled my outrage: My mother, who received pancuronium (Pavulon) to relieve respiratory distress while dying on a respirator, endured a nurse pressing a fist on the sternum to see if my mother "was responsive to pain." My husband had Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia and endured 11 days of the worst nursing care I've ever seen in two hospitals, one of which had Magnet status. When he was transferred to another hospital to determine the cause of his chest pain, the so-called pain-management team took at least 24 hours to set up a morphine drip. No nurse intervened on his behalf, and I stayed with him most of the time, delivering (or begging for) basic care.

I know that hospitalized patients are sicker today and that staffing is proportionally worse, but should we continue to whine about this to patients? It isn't the patient's job to understand nurses' problems-it's our job to fix them.

Gail M. Pfeifer, MA, RN

Middletown, NJ