We were discussing the Disneryland measles outbreak at work, and I was appalled to find some of my co-workers refuse to vaccinate their kids. They (grudgingly) receive the vaccines they need to remain employed, but doubt their safety/necessity for their kids.
I must say, I am absolutley stunned. How can one be a nurse and deny science?
As a nurse, you should darn well know what the scientific method entails and what phrases such as "evidence based" and "peer reviewed" mean.
I have to say, I have lost most of my respect for the nurses and mistrust their judgement; after all, if they deny science, on what premise are they basing their practices?
Devil's advocate...why should the anti-bad parent keep their kid home? Why does the right of the other child trump the rights of the anti-vaxer's child? Maybe the child with the compromised immune system should be kept home. When do we decide who has more rights?
I can say as a parent to children with special needs I've always assumed my children's rights are not priority in society. If I need something different...I expect it as long as it doesn't cause issues to somebody else. If our needs/wants cause issues for another...we step back.
And as a nurse, I firmly believe that you special needs child's rights do trump the rights of a child w/o special needs
Immune compromised people or others who cannot be vaccinated have the right to live their life w/o fear of contracting a deadly and aniquated disease because someone has decided vaccines are bad.
As nurses, we are ethically obligated to put the needs of the vulnerable ahead of other. Full stop
From the nursing code of ethics:
Ethics is an integral part of the foundation of nursing. Nursing has a distinguished history of concern for the welfare of the sick, injured, and vulnerable and for social justice. This concern is embodied in the provision of nursing care to individuals and the community. Nursing encompasses the prevention of illness, the alleviation of suffering, and the protection, promotion, and restoration of health in the care of individuals, families, groups, and communities. Individuals who became nurses are expected not only to adhere to the ideals and moral norms of the profession, but also to embrace them as a part of what it means to be a nurse.
I have known a few nurses who I wondered how they ever got through inorganic chem..
I wonder how I got through inorganic chem! lol I remember thinking throughout that class "why do I need this"... but honestly, it taught me dimensional analysis, which is how I aced every med cal exam with 100%! Chemistry is required for BSNs in my area, but not ADNs.
My brother-in-law and sister are childless because of his harmless bout of measles as a child (doctors linked his sterility to measles). 400-500 children were dying yearly prior to vaccine. It's not a harmless childhood disease. It's our responsibility and a civilized society to protect the vulnerable, and if we may be of HARM to the vulnerable, it's our MORAL duty to stay away, not expect them to stay away. It's a matter of who is the one doing harm. Your rights end when they are harmful to another person. Period.
Put it this way...most of these anti vax(people choosing ignorance) get their information from the likes of Don Imus and other scientific luminaries! In the words of the great Southpark social commentators:"dum dum dum dum duuum!" Sad we are even having this conversation. Of course I love when the libertarians chime in as much as the bible thumpers...we are in fact a society not an every man for himself zoo of ignorance! Sometimes I wonder
Specializes in Pediatrics, High-Risk L&D, Antepartum, L.
And as a nurse, I firmly believe that you special needs child's rights do trump the rights of a child w/o special needs
Immune compromised people or others who cannot be vaccinated have the right to live their life w/o fear of contracting a deadly and aniquated disease because someone has decided vaccines are bad.
As nurses, we are ethically obligated to put the needs of the vulnerable ahead of other. Full stop
From the nursing code of ethics:
Ethics is an integral part of the foundation of nursing. Nursing has a distinguished history of concern for the welfare of the sick, injured, and vulnerable and for social justice. This concern is embodied in the provision of nursing care to individuals and the community. Nursing encompasses the prevention of illness, the alleviation of suffering, and the protection, promotion, and restoration of health in the care of individuals, families, groups, and communities. Individuals who became nurses are expected not only to adhere to the ideals and moral norms of the profession, but also to embrace them as a part of what it means to be a nurse.
But the world isn't full of nurses...we can't expect everyone to act as if it is. If my neighbor doesn't want to vaccinate...that is their choice. It doesn't mean they need to bend to the nursing code of ethics. I, in my field of work, may need to follow the code but that's mean the world needs to.
I'm willing to accept and embrace everyone regardless of their vaccination beliefs because first...this is a free country. I embrace our freedoms first. When I am working...I would be doing harm if I refused to care for those not vaccinating.
I'm going to jump in here and say that not all anti-vaccine nurses are against ALL vaccines. For example- I waited to get Hep B for my kids until they were older. (The thought of a vaccine in the delivery room is repugnant to me- and that is the norm around here) It is a sexually transmitted disease for which they- at the time -had ZERO risk.
I also declined HPV for them, and allow them to make the decision on that one.
I'm going to jump in here and say that not all anti-vaccine nurses are against ALL vaccines. For example- I waited to get Hep B for my kids until they were older. (The thought of a vaccine in the delivery room is repugnant to me- and that is the norm around here) It is a sexually transmitted disease for which they- at the time -had ZERO risk.
I also declined HPV for them, and allow them to make the decision on that one.
Except HepB is not just a STD...You know that, right?
It can be transmitted from blood contact, which you know little kids NEVER, say, skin their knee and then touch each other, right?
And if a kid gets HepB their chances of getting liver cancer are very high
Which is why we give it ASAP in the delivery room
I don't know what area of nursing you are in, perhaps you have little to ne contact with peds, but as you have a MSN I would hope you would know this about HepB
But the world isn't full of nurses...we can't expect everyone to act as if it is. If my neighbor doesn't want to vaccinate...that is their choice. It doesn't mean they need to bend to the nursing code of ethics. I, in my field of work, may need to follow the code but that's mean the world needs to.
I'm willing to accept and embrace everyone regardless of their vaccination beliefs because first...this is a free country. I embrace our freedoms first. When I am working...I would be doing harm if I refused to care for those not vaccinating.
Except I started this thread about nurses who are anti vax, and that is who I am discussing
dinah77, ADN
530 Posts
And as a nurse, I firmly believe that you special needs child's rights do trump the rights of a child w/o special needs
Immune compromised people or others who cannot be vaccinated have the right to live their life w/o fear of contracting a deadly and aniquated disease because someone has decided vaccines are bad.
As nurses, we are ethically obligated to put the needs of the vulnerable ahead of other. Full stop
From the nursing code of ethics: