classmate insists on posting her opinion

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Hi everyone! I would love some advice on how to deal with this. My nursing class (ADN) has made a facebook group that is private only to us so that we can ask each other questions about material, class, etc. Lately, though one student has been posting anti-vaccine videos or anecdotes. I am usually good at having an open mind and can deal with other people disagreeing with me, but its very difficult to deal with the posts when they are ones that have been proven as hoaxes, false, or just have no merit. One post ended up being an opinion piece whose author was found to be lying and taking scientific journals out of context....In the beginning I was doing a pretty good job at ignoring it. But I am ashamed to say that I got sucked in this past week and responded by posting proof that what she had recently posted wasn't true. I don't like this side of me and being new to the area I am terrified I am going to burn bridges that will bite me in the butt later when I start to look for jobs after I graduate. Only two other students in the group of 20 have responded to her so far aside from me. So I feel like the rest of the group is just uncomfortable and wishes she would just stop- but no one ever says anything. For all I know my whole class could be anti-vaccine and I wouldn't know it. About a third of my class are CNAs or LPNs so they already have jobs at places near by, so I'm scared if I apply somewhere they work they might tell interviewers bad things about me? My question: Should I just hunker down and ignore it and hope she eventually gets the picture no one wants to use the group as a soap box? Or should I try asking the group as a whole if we want to just want the facebook group to be used for school related questions? I don't want to start trouble...so maybe thats my answer right there? I should just learn to keep my mouth shut...:( Oh and if you think I've already messed things up badly, do you have any advice on how to make things better?

@purplelover - I wish our professors were in our groups, it would be more formal then and less gray areas.

Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
We asked our professor, but she said faculty isn't allowed to be in facebook groups. And I did delete my comment about 30-40 min after, I just still feel embarrassed that I let myself act the same as she has. It does worry me that someone who thinks injecting yourself with your own urine will cure you from being "harmed by vaccines" will one day be a nurse...but I just need to distance myself from the group like you said and only go on the page if I need help.
WHAT!!!!!!! Injecting yourself with urine....Okaaay. :wacky: I have heard some strange things but that one is new. Well...you will always run into unusual people in life. That is what gives life interest.

Wow...that is a good one....but as long as she doesn't start injecting patients ignore her. We have all stuck out feet in our mouths and chewed up to our hips...fortunately we didn't have social media.

It's deleted you said your peace...we got your back....:)

Specializes in ER.

I've heard of some off the wall therapies in the past, crystals, coffee enemas, pyramids, flower remedies, aroma therapy, massaging your aura. But injecting yourself with urine takes the cake...:yuck:

Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
I've heard of some off the wall therapies in the past crystals, coffee enemas, pyramids, flower remedies, aroma therapy, massaging your aura. But injecting yourself with urine takes the cake...:yuck:[/quote']

Agree- the urine takes the cake.

:barf:

Makes me miss nursing school less and less...much happier being a nurse :yes:

Specializes in CEN, CFRN, PHRN, RCIS, EMT-P.

Facebook drama, that's why I stay away from Facebook.

Specializes in ER.

There are jobs for people like this in nursing. I'm interested in alternative medicine of the more rational type. So last year I briefly took a job in an alternative clinic that wanted a nurse with IV skills, it was a once day a week gig and my nurse manager agreed to work around the day I'd be working there. It was a small clinic run by one doctor, an MD. They did a lot of valid therapies there, doing extensive bloodwork, working with supplements.

One of the big therapies that I did during my short stay there was a treatment where I would remove 30-60 ml of the patients own blood, mix it in with 250ml of NS that I added oxygen to, then reinfuse it to the pt through an ultraviolet light machine.

I just felt I wasn't doing any thing useful there. The doctor drew people from all over the state, and there were people who came weekly for this 'therapy'. They seemed like a neurotic, self-absorbed bunch, mostly women.

There was one woman who came there whose church had raised a great deal of money for her cancer treatments, she blew it all at that clinic while rejecting anything conventional. She was in bad shape.

I quit after 3 weeks, it wasn't for me.

Specializes in ICU.

I would just ignore it. I know sometimes peoples opinions are just so out right wrong you really want to correct them and make them see the light. lol There are so many times when I just have to bite my tongue and ask myself, How does this affect me in anyway? If she injects herself with urine does that affect you? The answer is no.

I have wisely learned over the years to keep my opinions to myself unless someone asks for it. You are never going to be able to reason with people like that, so don't even try. Most of the time, they want you to argue with them and it's not really worth my effort or time.

You paid for this education so do your best with it and don't let people like this suck you in at all. Just do the best you can and either delete yourself from the group or ignore it.:yes:

Like my daddy says, "Opinions are like a-holes, everyone has one"

She'll sink her own ship in the end so do your thing and ignore her posts (or just outright block her, which is a nice feature on fb)

But as a nurse, she will not be allowed to just do whatever she thinks is best for patients in terms of injecting them with urine instead of vaccines. She will have to follow the standard of care. Don't worry about it. In fact, don't even think about it! :)

Specializes in Med-Surg.
WHAT!!!!!!! Injecting yourself with urine....Okaaay. :wacky: I have heard some strange things but that one is new. Well...you will always run into unusual people in life. That is what gives life interest.

Wow...that is a good one....but as long as she doesn't start injecting patients ignore her. We have all stuck out feet in our mouths and chewed up to our hips...fortunately we didn't have social media.

It's deleted you said your peace...we got your back....:)

Right, I'm sitting here trying to figure out just what kind of injection. IM, IV, SQ? Do they like...boil it or something beforehand? Whiskey tango foxtrot...

Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

I would almost ask the person who set up the page or class president, if you have one, to post something like, "Please keep posts related to the course material or class-related topics. Please keep opinion and controversial topics to your personal pages." Something along those lines. But then again, I'm sure this girl (and it's just LOVELY to think she's going to be a nurse caring for people) is oblivious to how controversial her posts are.

Oh, ugh....

Ignore, ignore, ignore.

We have several who apparently never listen in class and spend all their time on fb asking questions (about meeting times, counseling appts, etc) when if they'd listened in class they would know.

Ignore, ignore, ignore. ;)

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