allnurses has Become so Politicized

[adventure_rn, MSN, NP]

Has anybody else been pretty shocked by how polarized many of the forums have gotten lately? 'Back in the good ole' days,' people would occasionally have differing view points and get into little spats, but on the whole we were all on the same page and working toward the same common goal (patient and nurse well-being).

These days it feels like at least 1/3 of the trending forums eventually devolve into tirades and personal attacks. Even when the discussions start out fairly civil, they sour pretty quickly.

I realize that highly-polarized, highly-sensationalized news is the nature of our political system these days. I'm also guessing that the polarization is felt more deeply on AN because the two most prominent, polarizing topics right now (covid and 'black lives' protests) are both interrelated with public health. Usually AN members are at least somewhat united on the aims and goals for public health, even if they don't agree with the means. Now, there's just so much bickering.

It's really disheartening. AN is usually my escape from the outside world, where I can commiserate with other nurses on topics that only we understand. Lately, it feels like the lighthearted, feel-good nature of AN has been poisoned by all of this hatred. I hope we get back to the way things were sooner rather than later. ?

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

I agree. I try to stay out of those threads, but I always seem to get sucked back into them.

[caliotter3]

I thought there was a reason for placing politics on the Breakroom site, away from the site that is supposed to be about nursing. As far as pouncing on individuals with personal attacks, it has been worse in the past. Most of those who couldn't pass by a chance to belittle and criticize, at one time or another, have left. Now, the guise is "politics" and "social justice" topics, attracting criticism on their own, yet also providing a thin veil to attack individuals, who may be doing nothing more than expressing their opinions. It seems sometimes that while everyone's opinion is supposed to be welcome, some opinions are more welcome than others.

[adventure_rn, MSN, NP]

2 minutes ago, caliotter3 said:

I thought there was a reason for placing politics on the Breakroom site, away from the site that is supposed to be about nursing.

I agree with so many of your points. I think the hardest part is that the current political topics are inherently related to nursing (covid, and black lives matter, with protests that can lead to more covid, and are arguably a matter of public health themselves).

Unlike most political topics, which are inherently delineated from nursing and can be sequestered in the Breakroom, it’s so hard to separate these topics from nursing without admin aggressively editing the posts (which is already happening). The admin team seems pretty aggravated by all of the fighting, and I feel kind of bad for them having to moderate the same thing over and over.

The whole thing just stinks.

[caliotter3]

Well, I must be strange then, because I find that I can talk about Covid without getting into political arguments.

[TriciaJ, RN]

The more-compassionate-than-thou used to enjoy berating anyone who was venting or expressing cynicism or using tongue-in-cheek expressions. They got called out and mostly settled down.

Now they have a new platform and launch into ad hominem attacks for any variation from their viewpoint. Some threads have to be avoided because it gets ugly and nasty really fast.

[toomuchbaloney]

When was the last time that political leadership made compliance with public health recommendations during a pandemic seem like a partisan exercise? That's why the clinical side is now mired in politics.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

I think the lock-down, stay at home stuff (for those obeying it) has people on edge. We are approaching an very contentious election and there is little denying that somehow a pandemic and the recommendations for dealing with it have been highly politicized. I think what we are seeing here is a reflection of all of that.

[macawake, MSN]

5 hours ago, adventure_rn said:

Has anybody else been pretty shocked by how polarized many of the forums have gotten lately? 'Back in the good ole' days,' people would occasionally have differing view points and get into little spats, but on the whole we were all on the same page and working toward the same common goal (patient and nurse well-being).

These days it feels like at least 1/3 of the trending forums eventually devolve into tirades and personal attacks. Even when the discussions start out fairly civil, they sour pretty quickly.

I realize that highly-polarized, highly-sensationalized news is the nature of our political system these days. I'm also guessing that the polarization is felt more deeply on AN because the two most prominent, polarizing topics right now (covid and 'black lives' protests) are both interrelated with public health. Usually AN members are at least somewhat united on the aims and goals for public health, even if they don't agree with the means. Now, there's just so much bickering.

It's really disheartening. AN is usually my escape from the outside world, where I can commiserate with other nurses on topics that only we understand. Lately, it feels like the lighthearted, feel-good nature of AN has been poisoned by all of this hatred. I hope we get back to the way things were sooner rather than later. ?

No, unfortunately I’m not in the least surprised by the polarization evident in many threads. What you’re seeing here, is simply a reflection of what’s happening in society. Also, you guys are in the middle of an election year. I expect it will get worse.

Not to get too political, but it’s impossible to discuss the why behind what we’re seeing, without going ”there”. You have a populist President and populism by definition requires antagonism. Usually the antagonistic relationship is between the good, virtuous people vs a corrupt and often even nefarious elite.

Divisiveness is the fuel that maintains this antagonistic relationship so it should not come as a surprise that it’s encouraged. Seeking common ground simply isn’t a goal or priority.

One would think that nurses being united on goals for public health should be something they should quite easily manage, but sadly I think that even that is viewed through a political, partisan lens.

I witnessed a back and forth in a thread on whether racism is even a public health issue. To me public health isn’t only the prevention of disease, but also improving quality of life and prolonging life. But it’s quite obvious that even the definition of public health appears to have a political aspect. Personally, I can’t fathom how any nurse, or I guess poster claiming to be a nurse, can think that racism isn’t a public health issue. How could the presence of it not affect the quality of life negatively for those who are the target of it? To me racism is certainly a public health issue. As is poverty.

In my opinion, we’ve in the last years seen something deeply frigthening happening. We are increasingly seeing that truth is under attack. Science is under attack. Facts are suddenly amorphous and malleable. Many folks seem to think that their opinion should carry as much weight as another person’s verifiable fact. If you don’t like the truth, you simply make up your own.

When you combine this with the phenomenon that an increasing group of people get most or even all their news from various social media platforms and appear to be lacking in the crucial skill of source criticism, I doesn’t surprise me that we’re all too often having trouble agreeing.

Just like you OP, I too hope we can get back to the way things were, but I fear, it will likely be a lot later rather than any time soon.

[NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

I parted ways with a dear friend over this situation as a whole. We are both African-American and our dispute was over the cop/75-year-old situation. I absolutely did not and do not agree with the cops pushing that old man. But I also believe that no elderly person should be out there in this mess. Yes I do agree that there is a time to stand up and fight for what’s right; but given the magnitude of danger that we’re seeing, if one is not as agile as he or she once was, send a representative if you must, but you yourself should stay home! I can and do so appreciate the desired effect; but the actual outcome can prove detrimental, as we have seen. Meet us at the polls instead.

That was my statement and he was furious, calling me a cop lover and any other name he could think of. So I said to him, “why don’t you go out there”? His answer was that he has to work. That led to another debate as I questioned his implication that all of those protesters were unemployed individuals, even those who showed up in scrubs.

The conversation ended when I pointed out that he was more driven by anger at the cops than compassion for the man lying bleeding in the streets. And he, too, is a healthcare worker!! In his words, “ALL cops are bad”. Of course, his Hispanic Cop friend who is a very nice guy is the exception to his rule. But that clearly negates the ALL category, right?

I have family members who are cops and family members who are black, white, and Indian. So I hold accountable the person(s) who are at fault, whether it’s the aggressor or person who knowingly places himself or herself in harms way, or both. History doesn’t always have to repeat itself. I think this all boils down to hypocrisy, an utter lack of self-control, and the inability to accept diversity.

[toomuchbaloney]

21 minutes ago, BSNbeDONE said:

I parted ways with a dear friend over this situation as a whole. We are both African-American and our dispute was over the cop/75-year-old situation. I absolutely did not and do not agree with the cops pushing that old man. But I also believe that no elderly person should be out there in this mess. Yes I do agree that there is a time to stand up and fight for what’s right; but given the magnitude of danger that we’re seeing, if one is not as agile as he or she once was, send a representative if you must, but you yourself should stay home! I can and do so appreciate the desired effect; but the actual outcome can prove detrimental, as we have seen. Meet us at the polls instead.

That was my statement and he was furious, calling me a cop lover and any other name he could think of. So I said to him, “why don’t you go out there”? His answer was that he has to work. That led to another debate as I questioned his implication that all of those protesters were unemployed individuals, even those who showed up in scrubs.

The conversation ended when I pointed out that he was more driven by anger at the cops than compassion for the man lying bleeding in the streets. And he, too, is a healthcare worker!! In his words, “ALL cops are bad”. Of course, his Hispanic Cop friend who is a very nice guy is the exception to his rule. But that clearly negates the ALL category, right?

I have family members who are cops and family members who are black, white, and Indian. So I hold accountable the person(s) who are at fault, whether it’s the aggressor or person who knowingly places himself or herself in harms way, or both. History doesn’t always have to repeat itself. I think this all boils down to hypocrisy, an utter lack of self-control, and the inability to accept diversity.

How do we change a policing system if we must only speak about individuals and not the entire system that protects and perpetuates the unacceptable attitudes and behaviors of the individuals?

[pixierose, BSN, RN]

2 hours ago, macawake said:

No, unfortunately I’m not in the least surprised by the polarization evident in many threads. What you’re seeing here, is simply a reflection of what’s happening in society. Also, you guys are in the middle of an election year. I expect it will get worse.

Not to get too political, but it’s impossible to discuss the why behind what we’re seeing, without going ”there”. You have a populist President and populism by definition requires antagonism. Usually the antagonistic relationship is between the good, virtuous people vs a corrupt and often even nefarious elite.

Divisiveness is the fuel that maintains this antagonistic relationship so it should not come as a surprise that it’s encouraged. Seeking common ground simply isn’t a goal or priority.

One would think that nurses being united on goals for public health should be something they should quite easily manage, but sadly I think that even that is viewed through a political, partisan lens.

I witnessed a back and forth in a thread on whether racism is even a public health issue. To me public health isn’t only the prevention of disease, but also improving quality of life and prolonging life. But it’s quite obvious that even the definition of public health appears to have a political aspect. Personally, I can’t fathom how any nurse, or I guess poster claiming to be a nurse, can think that racism isn’t a public health issue. How could the presence of it not affect the quality of life negatively for those who are the target of it? To me racism is certainly a public health issue. As is poverty.

In my opinion, we’ve in the last years seen something deeply frigthening happening. We are increasingly seeing that truth is under attack. Science is under attack. Facts are suddenly amorphous and malleable. Many folks seem to think that their opinion should carry as much weight as another person’s verifiable fact. If you don’t like the truth, you simply make up your own.

When you combine this with the phenomenon that an increasing group of people get most or even all their news from various social media platforms and appear to be lacking in the crucial skill of source criticism, I doesn’t surprise me that we’re all too often having trouble agreeing.

Just like you OP, I too hope we can get back to the way things were, but I fear, it will likely be a lot later rather than any time soon.

I just can’t add anything to this. Like always, macawake states it perfectly.