We are picking our clinical sites tomorrow for summer. That means I'm deciding where I'll be for my mental health clinical, my obstetrics clinical and my pediatric (most important!) clinical.
We've got several options -- all combinations of different sites for the different specialties with different places, times, etc...
I've decided that after my experience in OB that I
- Don't want to be an OB nurse.
- Don't want to spend any time at a Catholic institution treating OB patients.
I've thought about this a lot, and I don't think that providing care to women without discussing birth control, family planning and the decision whether to continue a pregnancy if it's not safe to do so. Catholic institutions don't believe in all this, but I do.
To me, those are essential elements of care from nurses, doctors and others. It horrifies me that the Catholic church doesn't support family planning or birth control, and I think that working at a hospital that doesn't allow for this care is against who I want to be as a nurse.
We'll see if I get what I'm hoping for -- there are quite a few options far, far away in the suburbs, some with evening hours and some very interesting combinations.
As a nurse I want to be an advocate, a person who uses science to help patients live their best lives. Some people don't believe that preventing pregnancies or even ending pregnancies is part of that.
I do, and whether my program (or my school) agrees with me, I'm going to do my best to be a good nurse, a good scientist and an advocate for patients.
If you were in the hospital I'd want you to have every choice, every option, every test, and a clear picture of what could happen with your condition. I had that last fall and I want everyone to have that too.
1 comment:
I would totally want you to be my nurse!
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