Veganism and the pursue of nursing

Nursegolightly8 · Jan 22, 2015

I haven't run into too many, which is strange considering that I've been vegetarian for 11 years & mostly vegan for 3 yrs. Ugh... gives the rest of us a bad name.

I don't like it when anyone imposes their beliefs (about diet, politics, religion, parenting, anything really) on others.

Flyboy17 · Jan 22, 2015

In my current place which is Cardiac Cath and EP we see plenty of people that have treated their bodies badly, We have a PA that is a Vegan, for health not moral reasons, and he suggests more balanced diets and vegetables to patients all the time, which he should. If there is a patient, that just had a heart attack, that is eating nothing but fast food and hotdogs every day than yes tell them to eat more vegetables.

From my perspective as a nurse and a beef cattle farmer, I can assure that I in no way ever try to push beef products on to my patients just as vegans, vegetarians, christians, muslims, hindus, republicans, democrats,etc. should never pass there beliefs on to patients.

Flyboy17 · Jan 22, 2015

RNsRWE and Veggiestunyc- Can we please get back at hand of giving advise to a fellow nurse and stop this mindless bickering. You are both right and you are both wrong in certain aspects. Please stop

Flyboy17 · Jan 22, 2015

MeiLana-Not sure about the myths of soy. can you elaborate?

chiromed0 · Jan 22, 2015

As I sit here eating a former chicken & pig reading this post I come to the conclusion people can eat whatever they want and it doesn't bother me. Vegans devour vegetables and now there are people who talk to plants and hug trees who think that's cruelty to plants. I honestly don't know where it ends but we all have to have some type of belief system so to each their own.

I think it only becomes an issue if YOU, as the nurse, make it an issue. So no it's not a problem. I work in a hospital that loves, what appears to be, meat or closely resembling it. Yet, many of the doctors are Vegans or Vegetarians since it was formerly a Seventh-day Adventist hospital and their religion. I enjoy the discussions and the concerns. Certainly eating less meat is a good idea but in life I think it's a good idea to be pragmatic. When you're patient is lying in bed, skin breaking down, it is NOT a good time to be preaching vegetarian beliefs to them. It can wait-indefinitely.

So I'd say if it's that important maybe find an Adventist hospital to work at that "may" have a population of patients and practitioners that share your same dietary beliefs.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Jan 22, 2015

RNsRWE and Veggiestunyc- Can we please get back at hand of giving advise to a fellow nurse and stop this mindless bickering. You are both right and you are both wrong in certain aspects. Please stop

Gosh, thanks for your concern, but I'm just fine :)

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Jan 22, 2015

As a soon-to-be second career nurse (in my 30s) and *mostly* vegan, I can echo what everyone else seems to be saying here. Shouldn't affect your career in the least. Now if you were an aspiring chef whose goal is to work in a 5 star French restaurant, I'd say perhaps.
In many of my clinical rotations, I've introduced some of my colleagues to some of the more palatable vegan recipes I make. They seemed to love this one:
Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles | Post Punk Kitchen | Vegan Baking & Vegan Cooking
The whole batch was gone by mid-shift.

Now that looks like something anyone would like! Sugar is vegan, so...LOL....most of us are in :)

I took a look at the recipe and because I don't keep vegan-specific anything on hand, I'd likely need to make a couple of changes. I'm sure that the "substitutions" of dairy could be switched back to dairy and still be very good.

Cookies sound good about now!

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Jan 22, 2015

As I sit here eating a former chicken & pig reading this post I come to the conclusion people can eat whatever they want and it doesn't bother me. Vegans devour vegetables and now there are people who talk to plants and hug trees who think that's cruelty to plants. I honestly don't know where it ends but we all have to have some type of belief system so to each their own.

What on earth are they suggesting that people eat, then? If we take out both plants and animals....what's really left?

ceccia · Jan 22, 2015

I assure you, it's a non-issue in the healthcare world and in the job setting.

unfortunately not quite. :/ flu shots contain egg protein, and depending on the type are incubated either in egg or mammal/insect cells.

Flyboy17 · Jan 22, 2015

unfortunately not quite. :/ flu shots contain egg protein, and depending on the type are incubated either in egg or mammal/insect cells.

Wow, not a Vegan but never thaought of that at all.

nurse2033, MSN, RN · Jan 22, 2015

Unless you plan on lecturing your coworkers and patients about their dietary choices, your veganism will be a non-issue. It's personal decision and one I applaud. The biggest thing I've noticed (and find frustrating) is the lack of understanding about vegetarian and vegan nutrition within the healthcare community.

True that! Or in the general population for that matter. I've been vegetarian for 30 years and still get questions like "what do you eat"?

resqbug · Jan 22, 2015

Chances are you will have patients or coworkers that have a background in agriculture (which highly depends on the area of the country you are in), and typically those people don't take kindly to someone making comments or even slight inferences to them being involved in cruel or inhumane treatment of animals. It is a really fine line that you need to be cognizant of, especially if you have your own strong feelings against the use of animals for meat.

People who are involved in ranching or farming also have a "profound love for animals", so be really careful on assuming that your love is higher than the rest of us because you choose not to eat meat or animal products.

Like religion or politics, as a professional, you need to completely shelve all of your personal opinions.