The fair ride most used in analogies is the roller coaster. But I'm choosing the ferris wheel. Ups and downs without forward progress.... then ending back where you started, at the bottom...
Have you read many descriptions about the view from the bottom of a ferris wheel? That's where my ride was last week so the view looked something like this....
She must have been about 3 or 4 and she lay whimpering on the stretcher beside a mother sitting with her infant in her arms. Blisters from second degree burns covered her buttocks and legs. She shared a lollypop with some flies. Alone, she would briefly doze then wake up crying. Her crying stopped when I rubbed her back.
Systems change, capacity building are part of the view from the top of the ferris wheel with Trauma Registry, pediatric resuscitation trolley, triage system, bedside ultrasound, emergency nurse training, Primary Trauma Care Course all in the works. Setbacks, delays and barriers frustratingly abound. Nothing has changed.
You always get off the ferris wheel at the bottom, don't you?
