Nurse faces backlash after posting image of their 'morning commute': 'The disconnect is [palpable]'

Air pollution is associated with debilitating diseases and leads to millions of premature deaths every year, and healthcare systems in the United States are strained. 

So when an executive nurse leader revealed she was taking a private jet for her "morning commute," many Redditors in the r/nursing community were outraged by the move, though some suggested there was more to the situation than initially met the eye. 

"The disconnect is [palpable]," a commenter wrote after the original poster shared a screenshot of the chief nursing officer's social media post, which included an image of the jet. Another said they were a "bit concerned about those 'healthcare ethics,'" targeting the higher costs, luxury, and pollution associated with private jet travel. 

However, others had a different take. One person pointed out that the nursing leader was visiting a rural community in South Dakota, which might have meant an unrealistic drive time from her location or the nearest connecting commercial airport, though even that commenter expressed skepticism about the necessity of flying private. 

According to an investigation by South Dakota News Watch, healthcare barriers in the Mount Rushmore State are leading to increased illness and mortality rates in rural and reservation communities, and staffing shortages are part of the problem. 

"It doesn't seem unreasonable to give someone the benefit of the doubt," someone else said, adding that the healthcare company almost certainly owned the jet rather than the CNO herself. It may have at least carried many others, and the decision may not have been hers to make. Whether it was truly necessary to fly private is still up for debate, though, as the Sierra Club reports it is up to 14 times more polluting than flying commercial per person.  

"Aircraft are utilized all over the U.S. and Canada to access rural areas and to transport everything from highly specialized staff to medications," another person pointed out, though they understood why the post rubbed people the wrong way, especially since it did not seem to indicate an emergency or sudden time crunch.

According to the European Federation for Transport and Environment, private jets produce five to 14 times more pollution per passenger than commercial flights and are 50 times more polluting than trains. And the super wealthy are generally the ones responsible, contributing not only to a growing public health crisis but also the dangerous warming of the planet.  

Fortunately, parts of the U.S. are working toward the types of high-speed rail systems found in Europe and Asia that drastically cut commute times. South Dakota has no such project, but advocates are pushing to at least bring a passenger rail line to the state. 

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"I suspect … that the [CNO's] post was made tongue-in-cheek," another commenter suggested. "It's easy to jump to conclusions based on limited information."

Regardless, the general sentiment in the comments was that while this case may have had its defenses, private jet travel is generally too polluting and expensive — the latter perhaps striking an extra nerve in the health care industry — to be justified outside of emergencies or overcoming security challenges for trips of longer distances.  

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