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Every job I've taken as a nurse includes a paper outlining my job duties and expectations. I sign this as does my recruiter or the HR rep. Not a single one of them has said that I may have to assist in abortions.
And of course at the bottom of the paper it has said "All other duties as assigned" correct?
Just like everyone elses job description that they got and that isn't an employment contract anyways.
And of course at the bottom of the paper it has said "All other duties as assigned" correct?
Just like everyone elses job description that they got and
Ditto.
Does it really state that if you get an incontinent patient who has a blow-out after 3 liters of golytely, you need to clean him up, help get his sacral wounds redressed and deal with a wound vac? Probably not. But try skipping out on that one...
Suddenly telling me that I'm required to assist in a procedure I never agreed to do so and which was not explicitly outlined in my contract is wrong, telling me I'll be terminated if I do not assist compounds the wrong. I wouldn't take a job at Planned Parenthood wouldn't care to have the job come to me.
And how the hell could I assume or plan on this coming down the way at some later date? I'm a nurse, not a psychic.
Are you seriously telling me that you never once were confronted with a procedure you found morally questionable? You'll take note I left out the word ethical.
You outlined your specialty area in one of your origional posts and that would indicate to me that the spectre of a "seemingly" elective abortion could have come upon you at any given time in your career.
And just so you know I'm very familiar to the terms and conditions pertaining to physician/patient confidentiality and for you to jump right to the conclusion that this abortion is "purely" elective means somewhere along the line this patients rights were violated.
As a nurse assisting, you should not have been privy to the reasons for the abortion at all. This patient gets wind of the fracas in the hospital and her lawyer asks that all encompassing question "how did this nurse or any of them for that matter; come to the conclusion the termination of my clients pregnancy was purely elective"? and someone's gonna pay.
Honestly, as a health care professional you know a patient having an abortion or that's had one should never be privy to your personal views. No room for that in a hospital/clinic. It's thoroughly unprofessional.
Get off your high horse, pal. I was responding to someone who said she had never been asked for her position on abortion or had "possibly participate in an abortion" listed among her possible duties. Silly me, I assumed she meant asked by the director of nursing or whoever was doing the hiring. That's what framed my answer. No, thank you very much, in 40 years I have never discussed my personal opinions of same with a patient, let alone one getting an abortion. Give me a little more credit than that.
Doctors used to take an oath to do no harm, yet, they perform abortions...
Nurses go into the practise to help people, to assist the living, to adminster care...
I dont agree that a Nurse should be asked to do this, unless they specifically 'train' to do this
and are prepared for the ramifications of ending a life... Yes, dont think that taking a life doesnt
bring mental reperations, when it goes against your 'ideals'.
Nurses are expected to be able to work in all factions of a hospital, be it the Emergency Room,
Caring for Patients, Assiting in Operations, and anything in between.
But, the Hospital should have asked each one, when they were hired, if they have any problems
with assisting in an abortion, and, if so, then they should of made provisions so that they
wouldnt be forced to do so. It only makes sense, since they, the Administrators have the responsibillty of the Hospital to uphold, and, this will impair the Nursing Staff, and the Doctors who work with them, now that its being brough to the forefront.
My personal beliefs are with the Nurses, but, thats only my opinion, which dont amount to a hill of beans in this situation, only that I hope its resolved, and that the Hospital can get back to Patient Care, and life settles down.
Yes, moral conviction to the preservation of life is a terrible thing for a medical professional to have.
I do anesthesia and take call in OB. I have assisted with pain relief/anesthesia for abortions. I can tell you something.
I have seen hemorrhaging pregnant women whose placenta has almost totally ripped away from the uterus(Placental Abruption). They and baby will soon die. This often happens before the baby is viable outside of the uterus. These women arrive via helicopter from a catholic hospital that refuses to terminate a pregnancy even if it would save the mother's life.
Then there have been women who find themselves pregnant while they or their husband were between jobs. Insurance calls this pregnancy a "preexisting condition" and will not cover OB care or care of the newborn. These women find that there baby has congenital abnormalities that would require $$$ that they do not have. How many bake sale fund raisers can raise 500K to cover these medical expenses?
The only unethical behavior I see, comes from those who are judgmental about a woman's need to terminate her pregnancy!
Abortion is a legal medical procedure. This is no different than having a Jehovah Witness go into the medical profession and refuse to give a patient a lifesaving blood transfusion because of religious convictions. Any one who has strong conscientious objections to a certain practice, should not go into a profession where the practices take place.
Well this is an easy one to fix at the time of hiring.
If I were those nurses I would be heading to the nearest Catholic Medical Facility where they value the sanctity of life.
Catholic Medical Facility where they value dogma over life!
Quote:
A Catholic hospital saved the life of a young mother of four. The woman was pregnant and suffered from life-threatening pulmonary hypertension, which caused her heart to begin to fail. Doctors determined that she would almost definitely die if she did not end the pregnancy immediately, and the woman agreed to terminate. Surgeons and physicians acted quickly and saved her life.
Quote:
Soon after, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix started squawking — it would have been appropriately “pro-life,” they said, to stand by while the woman died. It was wrong, in their view, to terminate the pregnancy even though that was the only way to prevent the woman’s death. The nun who acted as a liaison between the hospital and the ethics committee was demoted for her role in saving the woman’s life.
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