I'm VERY against abortion! I can't imagine supporting some through one, not saying that I would be mean, or anything like that, but I seriously couldn't act like I thought it was "OK" to do it just because they are too selfish to be parent's and would rather kill a baby than give him/her to someone who would give anything to have a baby. [Please don't reply with all the "medical reasons" to have an abortion! I know you have rights under the law to choose to do what you want with your body. I'm simply saying that FOR ME assisting in an abortion would be the same (again) FOR ME as standing next to someone with a gun in their hand about to shoot another person then saying "Oh wait, you forgot to take off the safety!"] I have been intersted in the whole process of pregnancy since I was pretty young (around 14 or so) and for quite a while even wanted to become an OB but decided that having a family wouldn't work for me if I chose to follow that career, and thought being a L&D nurse would be a perfect fit for me. I had never even thought of the possiblity of having to participate in an abortion until here reciently. (A comment some one made in passing when I told them I was going into nursing school) I will be starting my prereqs for nursing school on the 23, so I know I may find another area of nursing that I would be happy in once I start clinicals, but I really want to be a L&D nurse. Will abortions be "required" for me to work in L&D??? TIA!
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
"Will you HAVE to participate in abortions as an L/D nurse"?
Simple answer really is: no, you will not. In 10 years as an OB nurse in 4 places, I only ran into ONE patient who had undergone a problematic late-term AB and needed hospitalization due to complications. 3 of the 4 hospitals were not Catholic or other faith-based hospitals. As far as the AB patient, personally, I had no problem rendering her care, but if I had, I had several coworkers who would have done it for me.
It is rare, but you MAY have to care for people who have undergone them previously and experienced complications that required hospitalization. As others said, working in a faith-based hospital system is your best best. They do not do abortions on demand in those institutions and you would be very unlikely to run into such a problem in such places.
If you choose to work in a more secular-based hospital, you will probably come across the type patients I mentioned. You can probably find colleagues more than willing to take care of these folks. BUT if not and If you have problems with this, perhaps another specialty than L/D or GYN would suit you better.
I am an RN on a busy labor and delivery unit and am one of many who refuse to participate in any kind of live abortion. There are a few for whom this does not bother their conscience. They usually volunteer. We are very fortunate to have a Chaplain who is supportive of our staff. If we need him for support he is there. We don't do many live abortions because they must go through the ethics committee first, so they usually go elsewhere - less trouble. However, we do have to deal with fetal demises. Very, very hard to go from one happy room to one filled with so much sadness. This is when Chaplain Kirk comes and STAYS with us. He will even put his arms around us while we cry. We are very lucky to have such a supportive individual with us.
Back to the subject: Administration wants to keep their nurses. Hurting them spiritually is one of the quickest way to make us walk. Usually there is someone there who is willing to do a therapeutic abortion. The charge nurse knows who they are. They know that I will not take part in a therapeutic abortion - I don't want to live with taking a life, no matter the reason. They respect this and in turn I do the work of the nurse willing to do the abortion. In all these years I have had no problems.
We need good L&D nurses. Don't give up the dream!
You are fortunate to be part of a team where all are respected and everyone does the part they can do. A good example for other units. Thanks for sharing this.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Our unit runs the same way. Teamwork is the key. But not all units are this way. That is why it would benefit the OP to "feel out" the units at which she considers working prior to accepting a position with them. If they are not willing to work with her, these units are not a place for her to work. Simple as that, sadly.
The hospital I work at is also pretty cohesive (well, days anyway...nights has their "teamwork" issues. but that's ot).
There are nurses who will refuse to assist in a TOP. I work at a large teaching hospital in a state with one of the more liberal policies regarding abortions, so we see more than our fair share (and the ones we see are 2nd and 3rd trimester, 1st trimesters are done out pt).
Having said that re:cohesiveness and teamwork, I can tell you that it's frustrating when the same nurses are caring for the TOP women in what are mostly depressing cases (just found out baby is borderline compatible with life, severely deformed, dying, etc..or that mom is very ill and needs to end pregnancy) while the objecting nurses have their labor pts which usually have a very happy ending.
There is some resentment sometimes, and I don't think it's always misplaced. Yes, there are nurses who don't have a moral objection, but it's easy for those nurses to feel like they're getting dumped on because of this, and that can cause tension--especially in a high acuity, fast paced, stressful place like L&D.
The hospital I work at is also pretty cohesive (well, days anyway...nights has their "teamwork" issues. but that's ot).
There are nurses who will refuse to assist in a TOP. I work at a large teaching hospital in a state with one of the more liberal policies regarding abortions, so we see more than our fair share (and the ones we see are 2nd and 3rd trimester, 1st trimesters are done out pt).
Having said that re:cohesiveness and teamwork, I can tell you that it's frustrating when the same nurses are caring for the TOP women in what are mostly depressing cases (just found out baby is borderline compatible with life, severely deformed, dying, etc..or that mom is very ill and needs to end pregnancy) while the objecting nurses have their labor pts which usually have a very happy ending.
There is some resentment sometimes, and I don't think it's always misplaced. Yes, there are nurses who don't have a moral objection, but it's easy for those nurses to feel like they're getting dumped on because of this, and that can cause tension--especially in a high acuity, fast paced, stressful place like L&D.
Has your unit made any attempt to discuss this aspect of the situation? It would be interesting to see if there are anyone comes up with a creative solution for helping the nurses dealing with the depressing cases to cope or relieving them in some way to compensate.
A simple "I'm morally opposed to participating in an abortion" would have sufficed,...
I also hope that you do refrain from sharing your very charged views with your patients--be it before or after their procedure--as it is very inapproriate to give your opinions on such matters.
I work in a small unit.
We are a close enough group that we can respectfully agree to disagree, and do have discussions of our strong opinions....
but when we leave the nurses' lounge and step out onto the unit,
it is everyones goal to be supportive of what is best for our patients.
Personally, I am against abortions for personal and religious reasons,
BUT it is my professional goal for my patients to NOT know my preference or opion, because MY feelings are NOT what is important!
If I do a good job, my patients feel safe and supported and cared for!
Remember, folks...
the original question is "will I have to participate?"...
Is there anything more that's worthwhile to discuss on this thread? If not, maybe it's time to close it.
There is some irony in judging people for being judgmental. Not sure what the answers are, but it surely does seem like the temperature is rising and we're getting easily side-tracked.
The concensus seems to be that no one wants to be required to assist with a procedure that is morally repugnant to them; that neither attending to the patient after the procedure nor giving emergency care fall under the category of assisting with the procedure; and that a nurse should be able to provide compassionate care to her patients regardless of the personal beliefs and opinions involved.
There will be times when a nurse wants to change assignments because someone reminds them of an ex or there is some other visceral personal reaction. As long as it's specific and rare, this shouldn't be a problem. This is as much for the benefit of the patient as it is for the nurse.
A request having to do with philosophical differences is another matter. It is then incumbent upon the nurse to work through her emotions and learn how to find a place of neutrality from which she can provide care to those whom she finds challenging.
A certain procedure may never be acceptable to some nurses. Specific patients may spark a negative reaction. But trying to avoid certain types of patients is neither practical nor fair to co-workers.
If this thread is worth continuing, let's focus on the above issues and forgo the rest.
Ok, I plan for this to be the last post I make on this topic, simply because I'm tired of trying to state my meaning of the things I have said, only to have them (apparently) be impossible to understand! So, this will be my last attempt.
I can understand your quesitioning why I have chosen NOT to edit my original post! And it was simply because at first, I was unaware that editing posts were possible. After figured this out, several posts had been made, and I felt it that it would be unfair for me to act as though I hadn't said what I did say. I definatly should have simply left it at I don't agree with abortion, and I did not. There is no disputing that fact, nor have I tried to do so. This is why I decided to make an appology for the way I choose to start this thread. I will NOT appologize for thinking that an abortion is equiviant to murder, because that is how I believe, but there was no reason for me to have said so.
For those who tell me how "judgemental" I am for calling people who have abortions selfish.... In the way I have be taught, to be judgmental means to pass judgment over someone, and to give punishment accordingly. That has never been my to attempt to punish anyone for anything. I think that the term you mean that would be more appropriate would be "stereotyping". And we all have those tendancies, so yes I will definatly "own up" to being steriotypical. Judgmental, no.
For those who have stated that I have no buisness being a nurse because I REFUSE to participate in an abortion. You of course have every right to your oppions. I will be starting pre-reqs tomorrow.
And on another note, WHY have sooo many of you spent soooo much time trying to argue with me, about MY opinions and beliefs? What do MY oppinions and beliefs really mean in the whole grand scheme of things? I know many people who thought I was crazy to get married at 20, and pregnant at 21, but I really don't care what anyone else thinks or feels about it, because it's my life! I'm sorry if I offended you because I said that people are selfish because they have elective abortions, but what do you care if someone you have never met, and probably never will meet thinks if you or anyone else is selfish??? And I do want to make it clear that I DID NOT want to offend anyone and am sincerly sorry if I have done so. I just think it's a bit over kill to go on for 10 or so pages telling me how wrong I am to have said that I think some people are selfish....
Oh, I'm sure I have managed to say something in there that will undoubtably give someone something that they can twist wonderfly in to me saying that I think that, I think having an abortion should be a felony, and anyone who has ever had one should line up for leathal injections starting at 5am tomorrow morning, but I've come to realize that to expect anything less would be insanity!
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Clearly, Chancie, anytime you discuss abortion, you are heading into emotionally-charged waters and will get a rise out of folks. And when you voice a strongly-worded opinion, either pro or against, you will stir the pot even more. The reason people took you up on this, and said what they did, is you posted your strong feelings on a public board on a very charged and hot topic. I would try not to take opinions too personally and just do what works best for you. Just take the advice you can use, and apply it. Simply toss the rest.
But remember this: in becoming a nurse, be sure you understand when to keep such opinions to yourself. Obviously judgemental attitude in our care is not what we are signed up for as nurses. I can also say with confidence, nobody spends much time as a nurse who does not run into ethically-challenging issues that shake him or her to their very core.
I really do wish you the best. As I said before, you do NOT have to participate in abortion procedures as a nurse. I never have, and I have been an RN 10 years now in L/D and GYN nursing. Take care and try hard to keep your mind as open as possible in school, and beyond, to seeing various sides to any issue.
I've read all posts, over the past few days, with great interest. What I have to offer is this, coming directly from an experience with a patient about two weeks ago.
Pt. was high on crack, has a history of longtime use, two other kids in foster care and presents with no prenatal care at 37 weeks.
Several of my co-workers and even the no-doc doc assigned that night commented on how "good I was with her." I thought about the experience and their comments for the better part of the next 48 hours and came up with this: While I have no respect for this woman, I chose to treat her WITH respect and respectfully. I am happy and proud of it. My own personal feelings are and were not important to the kind of care I gave. She told me later that I was the best nurse in the world. Now her world is not a very big one, but I will treasure that compliment because it told me I'd treated her with more respect than any other nurse she'd ever met. Guess in her little world, I am Number One.
I work in an inner city teaching hospital. When you are hired, you may make it know and sign appropriate documentation to not participate.
I ahve been there for 9 years. We have only performed 5 terminations. 4 were for the mother's health risks and one for fetal abnormalities.
I do not believe in abortion. I was the 17 year old mother. However, after talking with my pastor, he believes even in these situations, we are helping people not necessarily committing abortion. There are definite risks to the mother's in these cases.
SmilingBluEyes
20,964 Posts
"Will you HAVE to participate in abortions as an L/D nurse"?
Simple answer really is: no, you will not. In 10 years as an OB nurse in 4 places, I only ran into ONE patient who had undergone a problematic late-term AB and needed hospitalization due to complications. 3 of the 4 hospitals were not Catholic or other faith-based hospitals. As far as the AB patient, personally, I had no problem rendering her care, but if I had, I had several coworkers who would have done it for me.
It is rare, but you MAY have to care for people who have undergone them previously and experienced complications that required hospitalization. As others said, working in a faith-based hospital system is your best best. They do not do abortions on demand in those institutions and you would be very unlikely to run into such a problem in such places.
If you choose to work in a more secular-based hospital, you will probably come across the type patients I mentioned. You can probably find colleagues more than willing to take care of these folks. BUT if not and If you have problems with this, perhaps another specialty than L/D or GYN would suit you better.
Good luck and best wishes.