Nursing and abortions

[breakinglightx]

I wasn't sure where else to post this, so here goes:

I am looking into nursing school. I'm debating between nursing school and a graphic design program. They're at different schools, so campus environment and program finish time are two important factors, but another came to mind that I need to know before I start...

(I'm 16, almost 17, so I might not even be able to start nursing classes until I'm 18, but I'm trying to get it together...)

Anyway, I am pro-life. I do not agree with abortion and I am morally opposed to it. It isn't a religious thing; I'm not religious - I just don't approve. I want to know, if, as a nurse, if I would be required to assist with abortions. I figured that one way to get around this would be to work in a children's hospital, but the children's hospital here doesn't have a very high turnover rate.

I posted this for a few reasons: 1) to find out what the chances are that I could avoid working in a unit where abortions are done, 2) to get feedback and advice from experienced nurses, 3) to get feedback from nurses who may not have wanted to assist but had to, anyway.

I didn't post this to get a lecture - if you really feel the need, PM me about it.

Thanks for any advice or feedback. This is my second post here (if I remember right,) and I've been away from the internet for a while. I have several terminally ill family members and serious finanical strains. I'm trying to get it together.

Anyway, thanks again.

[HappyBunnyNurse]

I don't think it is fair to say you have to avoid gynocology (or as some posters have suggested every thing except geriatrics) in order to avoid assisting with abortions. I have read long discussions on here arguing that Witnesses shouldn't have to avoid med/surg to avoid transfusions as long as they make it clear up front they can't participate in the actual transfusion. That said, if a law really were passed that health professionals had to perform abortions despite moral and religious objections then many would leave the profession. We already have a nursing shortage so I don't see that happening.

[GooeyRN, ADN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

I would leave nursing and never look back if I was required to assist in an abortion.

[Equinox_93]

I would leave nursing and never look back if I was required to assist in an abortion.

Even if by doing so you saved the life of the mother and if you didn't both patients would die? While rare, it can happen that such is possible. Such as an ectopic pregnancy, complications from maternal medical issues... )

[GooeyRN, ADN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

I won't assist for any reason.

[mommyjskns]

I would leave nursing and never look back if I was required to assist in an abortion.

I'm totally with you on this one!

[morte, LPN, LVN]

I won't assist for any reason.

so you are willing to allow this woman to die, thereby not having the chance to bear any further children?

[Equinox_93]

I guess it doesn't matter as long as there is *someone* available to do the procedure if it's medically necessary to save the life of the mother. I'd hate to let two die because I couldn't triage to save one. Because without the mother, the fetus won't continue on to birth anyway... I support the right to decline on moral/ethical grounds- I would just be concerned that someone who says "never" might compromise care if there were an emergency situation and someone else weren't available to provide the necessary care at the time it were required. I'm sure that would be an exceptionally rare case to even consider though, so not a big deal. Just a point of concern/curiosity. :)

[GooeyRN, ADN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

I simply will not work in areas that put me in that situation, so it is a moot point.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

I simply will not work in areas that put me in that situation, so it is a moot point.

i am glad you have done the mature thing and found a position that makes this a moot point.

[GooeyRN, ADN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

i am glad you have done the mature thing and found a position that makes this a moot point.

I don't think it would be fair to myself, other nurses, or patients, to work in an area where this kind of thing occurs, if I do not want to participate in it.

[talaxandra]

Not all hospitals even have gynae departments, so you could work in theatre or casualty without concern.

Re: the post about Catholic hospitals performing D&C's - to operate as a recognised Catholic hospital, at least in Australia, you have to follow Vatican tenets, which include the principle that abortion is only morally permissable if done to save the life (not psychiatric well-being) of the mother. There isn't any wriggle room.

D&C's can be used as a diagnostic test or as a form of treatment for a range of conditions. Some of the problems that may require D&C include:

• A history of abnormal menstrual bleeding, such as heavy bleeding (menorrhagia) or bleeding between periods
  
• Polyps (small growths protruding from the mucous membrane of the uterus)
  
• Uterine infection
  
• Incomplete abortion (miscarriage)
  
• Surgical abortion
  
• Heavy bleeding after childbirth
  
• Suspicion of uterine cancer
  
• Investigations of female infertility
  

- source: Better Health Channel

And

Because medical and non-invasive methods of abortion now exist, and because D&C requires heavy sedation or general anesthesia and has higher risks of complication, the procedure has been declining as a method of abortion. The World Health Organization recommends D&C as a method of surgical abortion only when manual vacuum aspiration is unavailable. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, D&C only accounted for 2.4% of abortions in the United States in the year 2002, down from 23.4% in 1972. - source Wikipedia (emphasis added)

[Pierrette]

Although I don't know you, I'm proud of you that you've found a moral compass at such an early age.

Personally, if people want to kill their own kids, that's their call. Just don't ask me (or you) to help.

150 years ago America had slaves and many people justified that horror. I fear that 150 years from now, we, as a nation, will look back to all these abortions and ask, "What were they thinking?". And somehow, the liberals will blame it all on the conservatives.