These 4 Stunning Photos Show The Epic Clap-Back Of Nurses Who “Play Cards”
Thanks to the genius of Las Vegas-based photography Abbie Fox of Foxy Photography, a group of local nurses got together for the year’s most epic photo shoot, with the express purpose of sending two messages loud and clear about the nursing profession:
- Nurses will always support each other
- If you want to accuse nurses of doing nothing but playing cards, they will look darn good while trolling the heck out of you.
Fox tells Nurse.org that when Cassie Ramos, her friend, and a student nurse from the area approached her about doing a group nursing photo shoot, she was completely on board. “She wanted to do a group shoot with nurse friends and make a statement in response to the comments made about the profession she is passionate about,” Fox explains. “I was honored to be the one asked for this project. These people are amazing and care so much about each other and their patients. One thing I learned from this shoot is #dontmesswithnurses.”
Amen to that.
Behind the Scenes of The ‘Nurses Playing Cards’ Photoshoot
Ramos, who is a full-time nursing student and full-time mom of two young children under three years old, comes from a family of nurses, as both her mother and her sister are nurses who served as her own inspiration to enter the field. She tells Nurse.org that the infamous card-playing comments made by Senator Maureen Walsh frustrated her because even as a child, she remembers her mother coming home from her 12, sometimes 14-hour shifts, starving because she didn’t take a lunch, let alone have any time to even use the restroom.
“The only ‘cards’ my mother even held was condolence cards she wrote to the family of her patients that died,” Ramos says. “I hope that this [photo shoot] opens the eyes to not only Sen. Maureen Walsh but to anyone who underappreciates nurses, that nurses truly care for their patients and that your health is monitored 24/7 by a nurse. A nurse will be the first to notice subtle changes in your health and a nurse will be the first to start CPR compressions even if she was on her way to clock out. For nurses, patients are our priority and we will drop everything to take care of our patient’s health. To my mother, my sister and all nurses around the world, you are the real superheroes.”
The photo shoot features nurses from all genders, colors, shapes, and sizes, highlighting the wonderful diversity that the profession holds. And while all of the nurses who participated in the photo shoot have different backgrounds and different reasons for getting their pic snapped—across the board, a pride in their profession and a desire to show the world the true difference that nurses made rang true.
Sending a Message To Senator Walker, “Go Fish!”
“I remember being completely shocked upon hearing Senator Walsh's statements regarding nurses,” details Cathy, an ICU RN who works in a Medical Intensive Care Unit that specializes in treating septic shock and pulmonary diseases. “As a nurse in one of the largest and busiest ICUs in the entire state of Nevada serving extremely acutely ill patients, I know nurses barely have enough time to pee or drink water, let alone have time to ‘play cards’ during our shifts…Doing this photoshoot with these amazing life-saving individuals shows that we cannot be silenced, and as a community bonded together by our commitment to healing, an attack on one of us is an attack on us all.”
And Hillary Hopkins, a pediatric oncology nurse of nine years, actually admits that the Senator was right—nurses do play cards every day.
“I may play UNO with one of the bravest little girls who I’ve had the pleasure of caring for during her three-month hospital admission,” Hopkins says. “I may pull out my fashion card as we talk about princesses and how she is the most beautiful bald princess I have ever seen; I may use flash cards to assist in the developmental needs of the preschooler who hasn’t been able to learn like the other kids because he is too ill to concentrate; I race a 5-year-old in slap jack so that I can convince him to take the medicine that will protect him from a fungal infection that could claim his life. Yes, I play cards and I play them proudly.”
Autumn Schreiber, currently a nursing student, adds that she wanted to stand up for herself, as well as her nursing family. “Now I just know [that] the best message to send back is for us to be the best nurses we can be,” she says simply. “We work extremely hard and often forgo taking care of ourselves to care for others. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Go Fish, Senior Walsh.”
