TikTok Nurses Drama

Nurses General Nursing

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Anybody else hear about the "TikTok Nurse Abstinence" drama? Apparently a 'nurse influencer' with a lot of followers made a statement that abstinence until marriage is the best way to prevent STDs, and the internet had a meltdown.

I frankly don't really care, but I'm more concerned about the internet reaction belittling 'TikTok Nurses' as a whole. As the 'most trusted profession 18 years running,' it's a little unsettling that people think these 'nurse influencers' are total morons. Seems like bad PR for the profession as a whole, especially when you consider how often nursing is misunderstood by the population at large (aka not the 'mindless medical servants' seen on most TV medical dramas).

https://www.buzzfeed.com/ajanibazile/tiktok-nurse-tweets?origin=spl&ref=hpsplash

Call me crusty, but I'm shaking my head.

On 1/19/2020 at 6:06 PM, Horseshoe said:

Yeah, she's not wrong, but if abstinence is all ya got, it's a disservice, especially coming from a nurse. I've never watched her, so I don't know how she presented her information.

We know from the history of human beings that preaching abstinence is and has always been a huge flop. Has never worked and will never work, even amongst her target audience, for all they like to preach it.

How do you define "flop"?

How do you know what her target audience does?

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18 hours ago, Kooky Korky said:

How do you define "flop"?

How do you know what her target audience does?

Meaning it doesn't stop people from having sex. Nothing stops people from having sex. All abstinence-only education does is leave the sexual beings unprepared for STDs and pregnancy. Doesn't matter who her "target audience" is-they are all human beings. Human beings have a sex drive that doesn't respond to shame or finger wagging or moral pronouncements.

And before you say "well I was a virgin when I married," I'm not talking about any particular individual. I'm talking human race terms. No matter the culture, no matter the religion, telling people they "shouldn't" do something and just leaving it at that just doesn't work on a global scale.

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On 1/16/2020 at 1:15 PM, Tweety said:

"Influencer" is a buzz word of the millennials to designate someone that has a lot of followers on various social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, that they influence to a certain point of view. An example of an influencer would be Gwenth Pawltrow, and her quackery advice her gives her social media followers.

TikTok has about a billion downloads and is a social media app used mostly by tweens and teens, but people like Will Smith and Jennifer Lopez have gotten on the bandwagon. It's huge and has made celebrities out of some users. It's particularly influential in the music industry.

I'm 60 and even I know this. LOL

Well, I guess at 60, you are more hip than me. And I have a teenager. Who is this “nurse influencer” influencing exactly, if this is tweens and teenagers? I guess that’s what I don’t get? I think we all know tweens and teenagers can only afford likes. Not $$.

Where have we come as society that “likes” become more important than dialogue or even money?

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
7 hours ago, LovingLife123 said:

Well, I guess at 60, you are more hip than me. And I have a teenager. Who is this “nurse influencer” influencing exactly, if this is tweens and teenagers? I guess that’s what I don’t get? I think we all know tweens and teenagers can only afford likes. Not $$.

Where have we come as society that “likes” become more important than dialogue or even money?

I don't think I'm "hip" or even strive to be, just aware of what an influencer is. I'm still old school and active on Facebook and Instagram but lucky to get 10 likes when I post.

Influencers get money from advertisers and product placement, not necessarily from the tweens and teens themselves. Kylie Jenner has over 150 million followers on her various social media and all she has to do is take a picture with a certain product, say a perfume, and she makes a million dollars. Crazy right?

But yes, "likes" seem to have become important to people. People do some crazy stuff to go viral.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
10 hours ago, LovingLife123 said:

Well, I guess at 60, you are more hip than me. And I have a teenager. Who is this “nurse influencer” influencing exactly, if this is tweens and teenagers? I guess that’s what I don’t get? I think we all know tweens and teenagers can only afford likes. Not $$.

Also, to answer your question, if she's preaching abstinence until marriage to avoid STD's then her target audience is indeed the tweens and teens she wants to influence to her way of thinking. Like I said, the money (if any, it could just be ego driven, or a sincere desire to help) comes from elsewhere.

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And there is nothing wrong with saying abstinence is the only 100% way to prevent pregnancy and STDs. It's the thinking that preaching abstinence is the only information one needs to provide to teens and tweens in order to prevent pregnancy and STDs that is the problem.

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In the age of COVID, just wanted to add this piece with arguments for and against nurse 'influencers.' I still fall on the side that a lot of this stuff makes nurses look bad to the general public...

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tanyachen/pandemic-turning-some-doctors-and-nurses-into-stars?origin=shp

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Specializes in Community Health, Med/Surg, ICU Stepdown.

Who uses TikTok to talk about religion and politics?? It's for dancing! LOL

When I worked in community health I answered questions from young pts about sex, birth control, STDs and pregnancy. I never promoted abstinence from any religious perspective. BUT I was honest that abstinence is truly the 100% guarantee to not get an STD. There are many effective forms of birth control, but only 2 100% foolproof methods for preventing pregnancy: abstinence or same sex partners.

Don't worry, I didn't say that to my patients, only asked professional questions about what type of partners they had to determine their risks. But if I did go on TikTok and promote gay sex as a form of birth control I bet I'd get as many views as the abstinence influencer girl, and probably twice as many hateful comments. I would never do that though... everyone should have the type of sex they enjoy with partners they are attracted to, SAFELY! Now that's some neutral and professional advice to give out, whoever wants to be the next TikTok nurse influencer/sex advice guru for 10-12 yr olds... not me!!

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