Analysis of My Rhetorical Situation

The first steps into Production Week. I've already stayed up until 3 or 4 am twice and it's only Tuesday, so it's going about just as well as I thought. Overwhelmed is the word of the week.

But a rhetorical analysis on my future QRG for Nina Pham's lawsuit is a good way to start.

Audience:

• As the first person to be infected with Ebola in the United States, Nina Pham's story as well as her lawsuit made headlines across the United States. Her story is interesting and can affect many people, so bare with me. Obviously, health professionals would be interested to know how she contracted Ebola, and what the lawsuit could mean for nurses in the future. But I also believe that practically any citizen that cares about their own health could be interested in this story. The possibility of Ebola spreading in the U.S. caused a panic among many, and almost everyone had an opinion on what should be done to stop the spread and protect people. I believe these same people who worried over this would also want to follow up on what happened to Nina, and why she would feel the need to sue.

NIAID. "Nina Pham Leaves NIH." 10/23/14 via
WikiMedia Commons. Creative Commons Attribution License.

• Again, I do think that the audience for this story can be very broad and span a wide demographic. Therefore, it could be found in many different forms of media, from magazines to videos to newspapers. Since the story is serious in nature, I don't think it would be covered in the more lighthearted forms of these medias. This story is a part of a potential health issue that could have affected everyone in this country, so the demographic can include people of any race, gender, political affiliation, etc. The lawsuit seems to focus more on the personal trials Nina has faced, which women may sympathize with more, but the outcome of the lawsuit could affect many health professionals, so I think it's a minor detail.

Purpose:

• The purpose of my QRG will be to inform the audience on both sides of Nina Pham's lawsuit, Nina's side and Texas Health Resource's side. It should inform them on how Nina contracted Ebola, THR's response and how they treated her, and all the events that led to her suing. I want to make clear to the audience that nurses, including Nina, were not taught how to deal with an Ebola patient or given the equipment they would need to protect themselves, and that there were definitely breaches in privacy on THR's part. I want the audience to understand that Nina was taken advantage of by a larger organization, and she did not receive the support she was hoping for. The setting of the story is in Texas, so perhaps that plays in favor of THR. The lawsuit also takes place about a year (2014 to 2015) after Nina contracted Ebola, so the gap in time between the initial outbreak and when she decided to sue could have also played in THR's favor. 

Author (me!!):

• I think I can present this story better than anyone else because I really care about the issue. I understand the role of a nurse exceptionally well (I took a class on it last semester), and I know that it is easy for them to be taken advantage of. Nurses play an essential role in a patient's care, being left to do the "dirty work" that the doctors don't. This "dirty work" is what keeps the patient alive, and in this case, is what led Nina to contract Ebola. I believe that this is unacceptable, especially since she wasn't even briefed on how to do this job, and she was still treated unfairly and poorly. I will present all the details of this story completely honestly, but I am determined to stand up for the side of the nurses who are so often unappreciated and exploited. The job of a nurse is to supply care to the best of their ability, which is exactly what Nina did, yet she ended up paying a huge price. 

Audience, purpose, author, check. I'm starting to feel like a real expert on my topic.