Pro Life Beliefs and Nursing

[Tuzla99]

After spending weeks at a hospital while my dad was there I decided I wanted to pursue nursing as my future career after the great care they provided and I wish to do the same to others. I have pro-life beliefs and would not be able to live with myself killing a child. I know abortion is not an easy topic to discuss and I find I am very ignorant on the subject.

I would never treat anyone who has had an abortion differently and would give the best care to anyone regardless of religion or life choices. If anyone was in a certain situation when they started nursing school I would love to hear advice on what you did. I see myself either specializing in nurse researching/informatics or even oncology. I'm still learning and everything seems new and overwhelming to me so any input is greatly appreciated.

This is in no way meant to push any of my beliefs on any individual or to start arguments. I thank each and every one of you who are in a nursing field or will be in the future. Your work is invaluable.

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

Pro-Choice and Pro-abortion are not the same thing.

Yes, while I may call myself "pro-choice" I would not refer to myself as "pro-abortion." Although, honestly, my stance is more "pro-MYOB" in matters of reproductive health.

[klone, MSN, RN]

I will preface this by saying my laptop keyboard is all jacked up and none of the symbols and punctuation marks are where they{re supposed to be.

I used to be Pro-Choice. Then I started working in an OB'Gyn clinic in inner city Denver for a safety net hospital that saw mostly uninsured and Medicaid patients. And I realized thatÑ

1= A lot of women are in a really really ****** situation, either because of poverty or abuse or drug addiction or serious chronic health issues

2= A lot of women get pregnant and really don{t want to be, or can{t afford to be, or a pregnancy is really a bad idea with their health issues

3= A lot of women WANT to get an abortion, but either can{t afford it, or it{s so socially stigmatized and they feel shame at the idea, or their family is totally opposed and would disown-shame-beat them if they got an abortion

4= Abortion is SO MUCH BETTER, both from an economic perspective, as well as from a woman{s health perspective, than going through pregnancy and childbirth and having another child on the welfare system-in an abusive situation-holding a woman down so she can{t improve her situation

Once I experienced these realities, I realized that I wished abortion was more socially acceptable to talk about and choose, and I wish more women felt safe and supported to choose it, and I wished that all insurance providers, including Medicaid, would pay for it.

So that{s why I call myself Pro'abortion, rather than Pro'Choice.

[RNrhythm, BSN, RN]

I've had a few in med/surg. Sometimes there's retained tissue after an initial elective abortion and they're admitted for D&C.

This is exactly the only time I have even come close to this issue.

[Nunya, BSN]

I don't think you've ever worked OB if you think it's unlikely that you'll encounter someone who's had an abortion in an OB unit....( Responding to the first comment)

[Tenebrae, BSN, RN]

I recall when I was a student an experience on the paediatric wing. There was a baby whose mother was sentenced on home detention, and as such baby was in again on what the nurses termed 'a social admission'

I recall this wee bub undergoing a painful procedure which would have made most kids that age cry. This wee mite just lay there and looked at me. I was like "what the hell happened to you that you have obviously learned from a young age that there is no point crying".

The fiercely protective part of me just wanted to have a go at the mum and ask her what had happened to her child. The nurse in training realised that if i was to have a go at her, all that would happen was that the mothers walls would go up (i'd probably get booted out of the nursing program) and we would loose any hope of creating a therapeutic relationship with the mum and ensuring best possible health outcomes for baby

My point?

Stuff happens in nursing. We will meet people every single day who have done things we dont agree with, who think things we dont agree with and thats ok. We have an obligation to provide the best possible nursing care and keep our judgements out of it. Its about the patient after all not us.

Choose the area you want to work in, if there is a likelyhood you will have to participate in procedures you are morally opposed to. Pick another specialty

[J-lynn]

I am as pro-life as they come, and it has never been an issue for me...Is there some scenario you are worried about? I just don't foresee it being an issue at all. I am always careful about getting into controversial topics at work that might create problems. I think as long as you are respectful of others then your beliefs will not cause you any trouble!

[Telenurse1990]

I am anti-woman beater, anti-drugs, anti-murder,anti-sexual abuse, anti-rape, anti-racist, anti-homophobic. You see where I'm going here? You don't get to pick and choose as a nurse, unfortunately. No one is going to force you into participating in a abortion. But you don't get to pick which patients you get to take care of based on your personal religious beliefs.

I think you should be fine. Trust me, by the end of it, you'll see that in nursing we tend to prolong the inevitable.

[nekozuki, LPN]

I'm a queer nurse that must provide care to homophobes and people that think that simply existing in a queer body is bringing about the apocalypse (and tell me to my face). But that doesn't really matter.

Nursing isn't about me being a champion of my personal values. It is about fulfilling the duties and obligations my job requires of me, and that's that.

So I do my job.

If you can't, find a job that constructs itself around your social/religious narratives.

[Rocknurse, MSN, APRN, NP]

I'm a queer nurse that must provide care to homophobes and people that think that simply existing in a queer body is bringing about the apocalypse (and tell me to my face). But that doesn't really matter.

Nursing isn't about me being a champion of my personal values. It is about fulfilling the duties and obligations my job requires of me, and that's that.

So I do my job.

If you can't, find a job that constructs itself around your social/religious narratives.

Well said. Right there with you fellow queer-person. We don't get a choice nor do we get protections.

[cayenne06, MSN, CNM]

We certainly get quite a few patients from sexual health/abortion clinics into the ED who either were not completely informed of the risks and side effects of abortions or are having complications and need treatment. Life threatening hemorrhage or infections are also not unheard of.

.

I perform abortions. Rarely, there are complications. I can assure you that my patients are well informed of the risks of abortion. I am sure my patients are more thoroughly counseled than someone undergoing a colonoscopy, which is significantly more risky. And how many women are sat down and counseled on the profound risks of carrying a pregnancy to term? I caught babies for years, and currently work part time in OBGYN triage in addition to my full time job at planned parenthood. So i am deeply and personally familiar with this issue.

Where this may come in to play is in a situation like plan B after a rape as an ER nurse. You WOULD be obligated to have another nurse provide the medication if you objected to giving it yourself.

It is very important to point out that emergency contraception *cannot* cause an abortion or interfere with a developing pregnancy. It works be delaying ovulatoon in the hopes all the little spermies will die before they can reach an egg.

[cayenne06, MSN, CNM]

(For the record, again, I am an abortion care nurse and I love what I do.)

Hi five sister. I care deeply for my patients and find my job to de profoundly satisfying - personally and professionally.

I work hard to reduce the need for abortion by giving women the tools and education to control their fertility. Abortion is only a small sliver of my work at planned parenthood- and i am proud of that work. But every day i personally prevent more abortions than any "crisis pregnancy center " or clinic protester *ever* will.

"As for me? It's my mission to care for these patients. I'll do whatever my conscience tells me I must."

Abortion Provider Dr. Cheryl Chastine Speaks Out - Rolling Stone

[Surfin USA]

Having an elective abortion is no less responsible or unusual than getting a lap band, for bariatric patients.

One could say "oh they should not have been so gluttonous,and have no right to try to change it now!" But at the end of the day, obesity (like pregnancy) is a medical condition.

Both can be traumatic. Both can be very unwanted. Both can be caused by decisions one made FOLLOWING having had trauma, etc.

It's not something we REGRET.

We are glad we had the option.

Most of us are mothers. We have children and have had enough of them. Some abortions are had by younger people, whose fertility is naturally higher, based on their age, and even more often, black women tend to have far higher fertility rates than the rest of us do, and are more prone to having more pregnancies than they want.

Having a pregnancy is expensive. It can cost someone their job,sadly. It can cause hypertension, diabetes, tooth decay (from the stomach acid eroding your enamel) and even death. Adoptiom is not as great of an option as people claim it to be. Many women who give up parental rights, wind up depressed and in therapy. Their children also feel a terrible void. To say that a person is selfish for not bringing a pregnancy to term is short sighted and inconsiderate, to say the least.

Do you know (any of you) that one in three women have an abortion?

So out of all these clients you have had, 33.3% have aborted.

Let me be clear:

Abortion is not a goal in life.

But regretting not using a condom that one time, should not be something someone has to pay dearly for, regardless of anyone else's ideas of when life begins.

The person who is the patient, is DEFINITELY a person. There's no doubt about that. The women who is choosing what happens to her body, has complete autonomy over that body. Just as we all do.

Remember... If it's not in the chart, it didn't happen??

Well, does that mean that the only place that anything ever happens is in a medical setting where a medical chart is being used?

No.

Do the nurses on this thread actually believe that no patient they have ever had, has dealt with sexual harassment or abuse? Have they never gone to a grocery store?

Just because it's not discussed, doesn't mean it didn't happen. Don't be judgmental, and don't discuss your opinions about abortion and anything else you feel strongly about, with your patients. They need to feel comfortable and safe at all times..

I will say this:

I told a doctor I was having an abortion. She was a Nvy doc. She lied. She said if I died during the procedure, the life insurance wouldnt be paid. She said the Navy wouldn't give me aftercare. I found out that was all a lie.

Fast forward two years:

I went to the VA. The Obgyn I went to for an IUD asked about my pregnancy history. I told him at that point I had one live birth and one abortion. He said I was only going to be covered for VA care, for four months.

I lost out on over ten years of quality free health care, because I trusted him, and he lied..

Just STOP pushing your agenda on other people.

How you should deal with it is say this "I will support ANY decision you make. Do you know that you have three different ways you can go with this?"

And explain to them that they can abort, adopt out, or become a parent.

Leave your personal thoughts out of it.

My mom found out she had cancer a month before I found out I was pregnant.

The living ALWAYS take priority. Do no harm. Remember this:

You can't resucitate a fetus.

That is all. :-)