Ill admit im not a fan of holistic/herbal nonsense, but if it makes a person feel better and is COMPLETELY HARMLESS it wont bother me a ton (ok yes it still will, except for pain management in which case it doesnt as much)
But lately ive seen a ton of nurses spreading this CRAP via social media
A list of "truth" about fighting cancer. Now despite the fact that its fake and actually isnt by John Hopkins at all whatsoever, it bothers me when nurses who are supposed to be healthcare professionals start peddling dangerous nonsense that can KILL people.
Some of the stuff in the article is true, or even general and vague. But then it goes on to "insinuate" that chemo/radiation is bad, and all this nonsense about becoming a vegan, getting rid of sugar, aspartme and scifi herbal remedies and what not.
And just makes me worry that people who dont have health science backgrounds see this crap coming from a nurse and having that lend credibility to its claims.
Maybe im nuts for having it bother me so much, but I just find it wildly irresponsible and quite honestly dangerous.
Which brings me back to the point of sham miracle cures. I know many people, including nurses, who think these snake oil cures should be "respected" simply because someone believes in them.
We should not and in my opinion, the same goes for supernatural beliefs because they encourage the kind of thinking that leads to the sham therapies.
Of course Christians can be good scientists. I suppose astrologers can too.
I brought religion into the conversation to show how the support and encouragement of magical thinking of any kind (which includes mainstream religion) supports and encourages snake oil miracle cures even by nurses.
Christians, being the largest supernatural magical belief community in this particular time and this particular location took the brunt of my criticisms, but Scientologists, followers of Zeus and Hera, astrologers, 9/11 truthers, and "Elvis is alive" folks (any of whom may or may not push snake oil miracle cures) could have been equally offended.
I understand it doesn't strike a chord with everyone, but perhaps someday.
Well, again . . . . . most of the people I encounter every day who are anti-vax and believe in conspiracy theories or "snake oil" are mostly more of the "crunchy granola" types. Or people like Jenny McCarthy whose main claim to fame is posing nude. Also known as "airheads".
So, bringing folks who believe in a god into this mix still doesn't make much sense to me.
I had to talk with the 6th grade parents tonight about making sure they get their children a Tdap booster before 7th grade. For the most part we don't have a lot of people who object to vaccines. So far this year, no exemptions.
Crunchy granola type here, and guess what? My kids had all of their childhood immunizations. Come into my ED with a nasty lac and you don't know when your last Tdap was? You betcha I recommend a booster!
New onset A-Fib, should you take warfarin or Vitamin E and garlic? I'm voting for the warfarin.
I believe there is a time and a place for everything, and if Reiki helps a person manage their chronic pain or PTSD, or if acupuncture helps them with their arthritis or to quit smoking, great. Good nutrition, regular physical activity, and mental exercise in the form of reading, doing crosswords, etc. are all great things that I completely support.
However, the pseudo science pushed by various websites which will remain unnamed really irk me. The problem is that people are too willing to be skeptical of mainstream medicine because it is mainstream and therefore must be in the pockets of Big Pharma, but completely unwilling to be skeptical of things like "take cayenne pepper to halt a heart attack in its tracks" or "asparagus cures cancer, but Big Pharma doesn't want you to know", ad nauseum. The idea that oncologists are evil money grubbers who WANT people to get cancer so they can buy a bigger house or another vacation in the South of France makes me ill- particularly when promoted by those who should know better.
I live in an area with a lot of eccentrics and alternative minded folks, so it's not uncommon for me to have contact with patients who have some outlandish beliefs. That's okay with me, no judgment (although at times I do find myself wondering why they came to the ED if they don't believe in Western Medicine), I'll just pass along science based objectively verifiable information and they can do with it what they will. Where I see the most of this kind of stuff being passed along though, is in the social media (sometimes from other nurses), and yes, I am one of those annoying people who will point out false information. It's one of my pet peeves.
I fully respect your right to hold those and other beliefs, demonstrably false or not. .
Sorry, I missed the headline that "proved" all religious beliefs to be demonstrably false....darn new FaceBook feeds!!
The efficacy of vaccines or the value of a new pharmaceutical can be proven. Concepts regarding the meaning of human life cannot. You are in the box with Schrodinger's cat.....and there is a vast universe outside of it. Perhaps in investigating the unanswerable questions of life you will discover this complex beauty, however it may find you.
Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN
11,305 Posts
Well, again . . . . . most of the people I encounter every day who are anti-vax and believe in conspiracy theories or "snake oil" are mostly more of the "crunchy granola" types. Or people like Jenny McCarthy whose main claim to fame is posing nude. Also known as "airheads".
So, bringing folks who believe in a god into this mix still doesn't make much sense to me.
I had to talk with the 6th grade parents tonight about making sure they get their children a Tdap booster before 7th grade. For the most part we don't have a lot of people who object to vaccines. So far this year, no exemptions.