After Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee referred to nursing assistant work as “emptying a bedpan” during a discussion of criminal background checks, the ICA sent Governor Huckabee a letter objecting to that characterization. “We wonder whether you know how difficult it is to get talented people to enter and stay in this profession,” the letter asks. “Do you know that 25% of certified nurse aides in Iowa have no health insurance? Do you know how we struggle to make ends meet because of low pay? Do you know that turnover in many of these jobs is running over 70% annually? Do you know that ‘being looked down upon’ and not being respected is a big factor in people leaving the occupation?”
The ICA also sent the letter to the news media and all the other candidates then blanketing Iowa in the lead-up to the January 3 caucuses. Several media outlets picked up the story, including TV news stations KCCI and WHO in Des Moines.
“Having been a nurse aide in the past, I have emptied many bedpans, and quite frankly I believe it to be one of the most compassionate acts of caring that one can do!” said ICA Executive Director Di Findley in a January 2 email about the letter. “And while I realize that we may all say things off the cuff, this truly is an opportunity for us to educate the candidates and others.”
Findley also called on fellow advocates to contact Huckabee’s campaign headquarters and “ask him to publicly respond to our request for an apology to the three million direct care workers in the country.”
