I love hearing your feedback! Feel free to contact me, connect with me, or follow me!
By Email: accordingtokateri@gmail.com
On Instagram: katerilaurel
On LinkedIn: Kateri Salavitabar
On Twitter: @kateriallard
I love hearing your feedback! Feel free to contact me, connect with me, or follow me!
By Email: accordingtokateri@gmail.com
On Instagram: katerilaurel
On LinkedIn: Kateri Salavitabar
On Twitter: @kateriallard
According to Kateri 
Hi Kateri, thank you for your eloquence and directness in responding to Joy Behar. I have been an RN for 34 years and as I happen to be male, I’m often asked if I am a “male nurse”. My general response is “Last time I checked” so I handle it with humor but the real issue is perception and we all know that Perception is Reality in the general public’s mind; heck it’s Reality in our minds as well. So THANK YOU for addressing and correcting Joy Behar’s MIS-PERCEPTION of the tools of our trade. I wonder if when she wears a blazer over a dress or blouse if someone says “Why does she have a man’s suit coat on?” Probably not but I’d wonder how she’d feel about that, despite whatever quip remark she’d make. While we can’t control others’ behavior (nor would we want to) we can certainly control our response to it and again, I thought your response was elegant, professional and of leadership quality. Best Regards, Tom Mahoney RN
I have just got through a very bad stage 4 cancer and was in the hospital many days many times in the past 6 months. I had wonderful nurses and they took care of me in an awesome loving way. I still keep in contact with a couple of them. I can not tell you want the nurses meant to me during this time. They helped me in so many ways and kept me encourage. I saw your speech and thought it was wonderful and so full of meaning and love as your open letter. Thank you for being who you are. Gods blessings to you and all the wonderful nurses. Barb Silveus
very well said so proud of you and all nurses i dont watch the View i find them very rude uneducated and ignorant betty from canada
Thank you for your well considered response to Joy and the View. But, did you communicate with The View directly? Just wondering…
Thank you for so eloquently responding for Nurses! Suzanne M Ward,MSN, RNC
Nicely done
I am very proud of your response to Joy Behar’s criticism regarding Miss Colorado’s performance in the Miss America pageant. My daughter is a NICU RN; her accounts of caring for these tiny humans made me realize just how much responsibility and accountability are placed on our nurses. They are highly skilled, compassionately wired, and innately dedicated. Nurses are the foundation of our healthcare system. They are the major caregivers who bring compassion and knowledge together to heal the sick. Her comments regarding nursing demonstrated an uninformed and arrogant individual. What nurses do for our society far outweighs the trivial tidbits of gossip and sensationalism that these women call “talent”. It’s unfortunate that individuals with a platform to educate and promote goodwill use it instead to criticize, marginalize and demonize. The irony of this story is that one day she will probably be in care of those she once criticized.
Dear Kateri,
Thank you so much for your open letter and for voicing what most of us cannot. I am not a nurse, but one who has (unexpectedly and with no plans to) spent time in a hospital for various things – the first was a rhinoplasty when I was much younger and the second about 5 years ago having a full-abdominal hysterectomy. Both were tough and believe me, I struggled (esp. with the hysterectomy) basically because through a routine exam, the doctor thought my abdomen seemed distended. Through the patience, calmness, unselfishness, caring and sometimes my being a real pain to deal with after all was said and done, I personally thanked a lot of the nurses who took care of me – walked me, helped me out of bed and did the things that I just was not able to do – without them and without them being there, I would not be in the place I am today. My eyes begin to tear as I write this because I can still remember how hard it was and how after 3 days, the pain began to set in and yet, they dealt with my tears, my frustration, my worry and my family to reassure everyone that it was going to be ok and it was. So, from the bottom of my heart and to all you wonderfully caring and unselfish medical people out there (and to my fabulous doctors too – Dr. Bowles and Dr. K and Dr. Masnyck), thank you so much for what you did and for doing such a fantastic job (I also had a tumor on my spine and Dr. Masnyck was the specialist who they had to call in in the middle of surgery as well. This was particularly delicate surgery since it was very close to a nerve and I could have been paralyzed had it not been done right). Anyway, I don’t have enough words here to express my gratitude for everything that was done for me and as far as I am concerned, the medical profession is one that I highly respect. I would never think of mocking or insulting anyone who does this because of what you do as you do it everyday without question. However, now these women on the view have taken on a whole new view in my world and I didn’t even like them to begin with but now I have absolutely no respect for these same women on TV who get paid to sit behind a desk and make these ignorant remarks about something they clearly know nothing about – so Ms. Behar and Ms. Collins thanks for clarifying what I already knew as I will definitely NOT be watching The View now or at any time in the future. To Kateri, thanks for taking a stance on this and doing it with class.
Nurses are the real care givers and true patient advocates of our society and the world! Make no mistake about it. In my many experiances with the healthcare systen my thanks go first to the many nurses that have cared for me.We also need laughter in our lives for good health both mental & physical.Good humor&good care should never be set at odds with one another.and your willingness to educate to that end is a credit to you!
A well measured response! I am proud to say that prior to sitting for my first year Medical School exam I worked as a NA in a small hospital in Germany (as every German medical student had to do, submit a certification of a minimum of 8 weeks nursing service). I was actually still on active duty as a (non medical) officer in the German Air Force. My head nurse was tough but fair. I learned a lot from her not only in medicine but also in human compassion. I can say that from that time on I always had a special respect for my nursing staff as I progressed (through 4 universities) in Pediatric Allergy/Immunology to Clinical Professor. In my mind those who speak disrespectfully of nurses only attest to their own ignorance. Good Luck with your blog and many good outcomes in your PICU!
Uwe Manthei, M.D., PhD., FAAAI, FAAP
former Clinical Professor of Pediatrics
Very good, Kateri, and all who posted such perfect responses. Since I was a little girl, I have respected nurses. I looked up to them. My mother’s sister, a nurse, lived at Columbus Hospital on Broad Street–a Maternity and Tonsils hospital. My aunt always smelled of ether when she visited. In those days, you smelled ether as soon as you entered a hospital. To me, as a child, I thought that odor, brought to our house by my aunt, on her day off, just added to the mystery and marvel of her profession. I hope that ABC will get rid of Joy Behar, a bitter, Catholic drop out, who couldn’t live up to the rules of the Catholic Church, so she bashes the Church every time she is able.
I am not a nurse or in the medical field, but was gladdened by your response. I have had many occasion to be attended by nurses and doctors. Even after throwing up blood on one nurse in particular, she continued to attend to my needs. I have two daughters who are occupational therapists so they see patients all the time. One works with schools and the other works in orthopedic surgery. I have on many occasions needed care from nurses and other medical professionals. After four bouts with kidney stones, colonoscopies, several minor surgeries, believe me I have seen these people in action. I thank you and the others a thousand times for the things you do. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Ms. Kateri,
A group of nurses have come together to take action on nursing issues. Right now we are attacking unsafe nurse to patient ratios. A White House, We the People petition has started so we can bring awareness to unsafe staffing and get a response. We need 100,000 signatures by October 19. Can you please sign and share? Thank You so much for your help.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/provide-federal-legislation-nurse-patient-ratios
Thank You for keeping a level head & sending a well written letter to Mrs. Behar. I don’t think I could be as level headed about it. I have been a Male Bedside Staff RN for over 22 years & proudly wear my Scrubs & I don’t call them a costume. When a Patient says to me “Oh, are you becoming a Doctor?”, I calmly explain to them that I’m a Nurse & always will be; it’s what I wanted to be when I grew up. Thanks Again! Bill Powers Jr. RN
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Hey I’m new to your blog and am not sure if this has already been a topic, however, I was hoping that you could share with us the reason of why you decided to become a nurse.I am about to apply to nursing school this coming spring and the nerves are eating me up.
Thank You. 🙂
Re: Your Huffington Post article in 2013 entitled, “Don’t call me just a nurse”. I simply am not on board with the response of so many nurses who get offended by this. My goodness, how many years of schooling does the typical doctor endure? How much debt does the typical doctor carry for decades after he/she finally graduates? Nurses in the hospital setting today have 2 or 3 or 4 years of schooling. Why do we get so offended when we are compared with doctors and come up short in the comparison? We are not doctors. We are nurses and our jobs are very different. I agree that the average person does not know what we do, because the average person’s experience is in his/her primary care doctor’s office. Notice I said “doctor’s” office? Not “nurse’s office”? That doctor has spent close to a million dollars to get an MD after his/her name and then go into business to provide care for patients and jobs for nurses and office staff.
I respect doctors for the sacrifice they made to gain knowledge that I do not have. In your article, you voiced offense that a friend took a doctor’s advice over yours. You have 4 years of schooling, the doctor has 8. Why were you offended? Look at the math.
Every day I take the advice of nurses who have three times the experience in the ED than I do. I am “just” a new nurse. But, I am the new nurse who prays with her patient’s when other people feel uncomfortable with it. I am the new nurse who will step up and tell another nurse when I see a questionable practice, BEFORE I go to the charge nurse. I am the new nurse who never complains about the rigors of my job. Why? Because I chose this job and I knew what I was doing. I could have chosen medical school, but I didn’t want to sacrifice that much time and money. So, call me “just a nurse”. I am proud of being one.