I am feeling very conflicted about making a decision in the near future about this, and I would appreciate reliable and honest advice. I am finishing a very difficult 5 year degree, and have wanted a job in healthcare for a long time. I still want to pursue a career part time in what i am studying, which is to be a band and music teacher, and am considering going to nursing school part time during the year and taking summer courses while i teach. I think nursing would be a very rewarding profession, and I think that I would be very happy to be a nurse. I do feel a calling toward a job in the medical field, and I am still young, I am 23 years old, and I feel that if I am going to devote so much more energy, time, and money into a second career I need to decide now.
With everything going on in the United States ( I live in Canada), I am extremely concerned about whether I would actually be able to work as a nurse by the time I graduate or not. I am unapollogetically pro-life, and would never have anything to do with abortion whatsoever. This to me even includes post abortion care. How much trouble will I have? It seems that every hospital that is not a Catholic hospital runs into this situation. I have friends in nursing that tell me that you would jsut work in a different branch of the hospital but then I hear stories about nurses still having to walk away from certain situations having to do with abortion. I would actually really like to work in Cosmetic surgery, but I am not sure how the job market is out there for that. I feel something telling me I should go ahead with it because this is something that I feel I really may be meant to do in my life,, but I will NOT participate in anything to do with abortion ever. My husband has a good career here in Canada, so the chacnes of us moving to another country are slimto none until retirement,
I do not want to start up a debate, I am just an exhausted student who is trying to make a really big decision and is increadibly overwhelmed at what i should do. I really appreciate your responses!
So it's a non-elective procedure that you imply is to save the pt's life and your belief set won't allow you to care for her. Interesting. Seems incredibly hypocritical to me.
Agreed. I am starting to wonder what kind of nurses we have out there after reading just a few comments that seem so opposite of everything nursing stands for.
I did not say i would not care for someone who has had an abortion i nthe past, (how would i necessarily even know?) i said i do not want anything to do with the procedure!
For the most part, I don't think you should have a problem. The vast majority of elective abortions are outpatient procedures and of course you would not choose to work at one of those. However, be aware that there are occassions that some women may have complications. Many, many years ago I took care of a woman who ended up with hepatitis after an out-of-the-country abortion (this was pre-Roe). Would you refuse her care?
You may be on a slippery slope at times - - "I am a teetotaler therefore I won't take care of an alcoholic"
"I exercise and eat right so why should I have to take care of the obese"
Be very careful of expressing your political views regarding your assignments. Although extremely unlikely that you would be asked to participate in an elective abortion in a hospital facility, ALL patients are entitled to the best care possible.
You may want to ask yourself why you have no compassion in your soul for those who may mot make the choices that you have. And you may someday find yourself in a predicament for which there seems no way out. Would you want someone judgemental to take care of you?
Specializes in med-surg, psych, ER, school nurse-CRNP.
Well, I may get flack for this, but I consider myself pro-choice. I see no clear reason, as stated before, why ANY woman should feel forced to bear a child of rape, of incest, one that is known to have anomalies that will negatively affect the quality of life, or carry a pregnancy that could consequently kill the mother. I was harped on for my beliefs in nursing school, where everything from my religion to my moral fiber was called into question.
"Well, if you were raped, and you got pregnant, God wanted you to have that baby."
"Well, even if you know the baby will be deformed, God wanted you to have that baby and take care of it."
"What kind of mother would not be willing to die to have a baby?"
Just an example of what I heard. There was worse, much worse. Point being, I have seen the havoc a child of rape can wreak on a family, and while it is not the child's fault, nor will I fault the poor woman who would rather not have to deal with a constant reminder of the assault. Even if the child is adopted, that does not always allay the feelings.
I have also seen the issues that a profoundly disabled child can cause to a family, namely mine. With the genetic testing that is available now, that should not be something that HAS to occur. I would not fault a woman who chose to abort because she knew her child would require a lifetime of care, a lifetime that she might not live to see to completion, leaving others to bear the load. (Happened to a family member, the mother died, and left a profoundly mentally disabled child to be cared for. Numbers of family available, and nothing but fighting over who should be the caregiver).
I also would not fault a woman for terminating a pregnancy because her life was at stake. My DH and I have had this discussion, and if I am ever so far gone that there's only a prayer of saving the baby, he is quite OK with that, as he said, he would have that part of me to keep. However, if we find out in time, he would rather terminate the pregnancy to keep me alive. (Yes, we DO have some rather unusual conversations).
Bottom line, if I choose to terminate a pregnancy, it will not be on a whim, it will not be a matter of convenience. It would be for the aforementioned reasons, and if there are nurses that would rather not participate in that, I would rather they not, as well. At that point, and under those circs, I certainly don't need any condemnation or judgement or to have someone looking down their nose at me because I've been deemed unworthy due to my circumstance.
And I CERTAINLY do not want to be subjected to those feelings after the fact, when I am likely doing a fair enough job of condemning and judging myself.
I agree with the others who have stated before, nursing is probably not your best fit, although I will wish you all the luck in the world if you choose to pursue it.
Hi. Angelfire. I didn't think this discussion was aimed at whether or not a particular person was pro-choice but in fact should an anti-choice nurse be TAKING the option of choosing her assignments.
I am convinced that the there is no such thing as pro-life; many of these same people have no trouble supporting the death penalty. But I digress.
I worked many years in dialysis, and had the assignment of caring for currently convicted persons (some were still incarcerated) who were on dialysis due to kidney failure from their own drug abuse. Although I personally think my tax dollars could be better spent elsewhere, I hope I gave them the best treatment they could possibly receive. I was professional and usually conversant with them beyond the minimum.
Further, I also worked in a jail where there were both pre-trial and convicted persons. Maybe if you are law-abiding you believe that inmates do not deserve any healthcare?
BTW, I was an ORIGINAL subsriber to Ms. magazine, delivered to my mailbox at nursing school back in the early 70's. I have marched for choice, and will continue to support pro-choice candidates.
Where do we draw the lines? I support anyone's decision to not participate in the procedure - you can usually opt to not work where abortions are performed. But there may come a time when in anyone's life when the care given is up to the last nurse available, regardless of your politics.
but there may come a time when in anyone's life when the care given is up to the last nurse available, regardless of your politics.
agreed.. snowstorms happen. what if a girl has a post abortion complication, which is thankfully rare when you are in the hands of good providers, but no one else is there to care for her because of inclement weather?
these things happen..
historically, nursing is about caring for all, even if we do not agree with their choices.
i was sexually abused by my uncle, but i would not refuse care on a child molester. choosing who to care for is not my job, i do not decide worthiness..
even if "by accident" she was to encounter an event in a hospital that she might personally deem as an act of abortion, still and rightly so the pro-life nurse has every right to excuse herself from the said proceeding; that is, courtesy of the law passed in the last hours of the bush II presidency enabling any health care provider to object to any proceedings that would jeopardize that person's morals and beliefs. i think it's called the conscientious objector or something like that...here's a link:http://www.madisoncatholicherald.org/opinion/editorial/466-2009-03-05-editorial.html
I think that the writer said that she lived in Canada....
Gila - I did not make a 'sweeping generalization' - I said many, not all. I am pro-choice, at least 40 years' worth, and I do not believe in the death penalty.
But each individual should be able to make their own decision about their own body.
Again we digress, the issue here is taking care of patients.
caffeineRx
446 Posts
Agreed. I am starting to wonder what kind of nurses we have out there after reading just a few comments that seem so opposite of everything nursing stands for.