Integrity grounded in facts
Jim Hartman’s recent straw-man construction regarding the Freedom to Vote Act is so full of hot air it could float a festival of balloons. Far from “prohibiting states from requiring voter ID,” the bill would promote a national standard for states that have ID requirements, allowing for a range of voter validation methods. Also, there is no provision “forcing states to count late mail ballots that lack postmarks;” rather, ballots postmarked on Election Day that arrive within seven days would need to be counted.
Despite ongoing disinformation, the 2020 election was certified as the most secure election we’ve ever had, with record turnout even in the midst of the pandemic. In Nevada, the one case of confirmed election fraud was from a registered Republican who illegally submitted the ballot of his deceased wife, in addition to submitting his own ballot. Republican Party leaders then shamelessly hyped this case as evidence of widespread fraud by Democrats. The case was investigated under our Republican Secretary of State, and it is being prosecuted under our Democratic Attorney General.
I concur with Hartman’s conclusion that those opposed to election integrity “are not motivated by concern for democracy but by partisan advantage.” Continued efforts to undermine voter confidence through disinformation are most prevalent among conservative promoters of the Big Lie. Integrity must be grounded in an honest presentation of the facts, Mr. Hartman.
Laura Hale
Carson City
Platitudes and pizzas not enough
According to a recent national study, we are experiencing an “unprecedented decline in the nursing workforce from the impact of COVID-19.”
Frontline caregivers have worked in extremely difficult, stressful circumstances over the last 24 months. I have watched the physical and emotional toll this has taken on my daughter, a critical care RN, who bravely returned to work in the height of the pandemic after the birth of her first child.
The issues that are forcing our more experienced RNs away from bedside care have been exacerbated by COVID but were preexisting. These include policies that increase the patient-to-nurse ratio with minimal staffing. It is a constant struggle for nurses take their much-needed meal or rest breaks during their nonstop 12-hour shifts.
Travel nurses, making twice as much as local staff, are being used to supplement staffing. Those in the trenches during the entire pandemic do not feel listened to or valued. There has been a minimal salary increase, no retention bonuses, no additional mental health support nor any interest from upper management to acknowledge and retain our experienced and exhausted nurses.
It is not a sustainable workplace when basic physical and emotional needs are dismissed and staffing constraints limit the ability to give the kind of professional and compassionate nursing care they strive to give their patients.
Our hospital administrators need to communicate with and listen to their frontline staff and make an effort to address these concerns. Platitudes and pizzas are not enough.
Ellen O’Malley-Eng
Carson City
Support Choose Home Care Act
The continuing COVID-19 pandemic has shown the limitations and risks of skilled nursing facilities – as well as the importance of extended care at home beyond the pandemic. There is a better way to care for seriously ill Medicare beneficiaries after hospital discharge.
Fortunately, bipartisan lawmakers in Congress introduced legislation that would expand home-based care options for seniors in our community. This legislation, the Choose Home Care Act, would establish an additional patient-centered home health option called Choose Home to help meet seniors' comprehensive care needs.
Choose Home would offer extended care services in the comfort and convenience of a patient's home after hospitalization instead of requiring them to stay in a skilled nursing facility. It would also provide support, training, and education for family caregivers.
As we begin the new year, I hope our states' lawmakers in Congress will resolve to support this important bipartisan legislation.
Stephanie Mandeville
Dayton
Not the time to lift mask mandate
My wife and I learned from the news that you have removed Nevada’s mask mandate. I have no idea why, with the omicron variant still rampant, you choose to do this now but it’s a disappointing action and we object to it. We will continue to wear masks in public.
Americans are so intent on maintaining the country’s economic progress that money always seems to take the lead in any negotiations or decisions about anything. And your decision is no doubt motivated by the business community and perhaps fear of the Republicans in the next election. But this decision is so dumb because omicron has made more workers sick, and now not only are the hospitals again overwhelmed but businesses continue to lose productive staff.
Until people realize that making more money is not as important as human health, this country will remain at the top of the COVID death list and Nevada will continue to contribute to it.
When we go out, and this is seldom these days unless it’s to buy groceries, my spouse (74) and I (78) always wear our masks and will continue to do so. But we see so many in Carson City not protecting themselves and us from a COVID-19 infection, especially from the omicron variant that is more infectious than the original virus. We both think it’s dangerous not to wear a mask, which is a minimum precaution that protects us from the disease and protects others from us in case we are carriers of the virus.
My COVID-19 records show the virus is still killing people in Carson City so why are some — including the governor — so callous about such simple precautions as wearing a mask in public? We don’t understand.
Dr. Robert Cowell
Carson City
