This has been quite a controversial issue in northern New England. "Patients have rights, but medical professionals don't" vs "You knew you would have to be non-judgmental when you trained for the job". Has anyone been forced to work against their beliefs yet? Here's an interesting article about the topic- what do you think?
Nurse Stella

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...022701104.html

This came up last year with the legalization of abortions up to ....weeks (can't remember but this is not the point). The debate then went out from nurses, saying that they would never nurse someone who had had an abortion. This eventually made it to our unions and registration boards who pretty much said; You have the right not to be involved in a procedure which is against your beliefs, but you do not have the right to choose who you are going to care for during a shift. This made sense to most people here and the issue eventually went away.

So as a nurse you might have to admit them to hospital, and look after them after the procedure, but if you did not believe that abortion should be allowed, then you couldn't be forced to help with the procedure.

__________________
'Think not of yourself as the architect of your career but as the sculptor. Expect to have to do a lot of hard hammering and chiselingand scraping and polishing. - BC Forbes'

If it's legal and the pt requests it - I do it.

Neither my job description nor my registration exam included any questions on what were my own personal morals.

If you can't provide the service the patient requires and/or requests, the profession allows you to do and the employer pays you to complete - what were you thinking?

Personally I think it's more amoral to dispense more than half the medication given out in psych and to lock up people indefinitely under mental health labels when it's clearly a lack of service or opportunity that's missing.

Should I refuse to do this part of my job?

I believe that nurses have the right to refuse be a part of a procedure if it goes against his/her convictions. Doctors can refuse based on consciences. See Cambridge Journals Online - Abstract. This talks about medical students, but I feel it applies to nurses too. Why should it be different for nurses?

There are even some nurses who feel uncomfortable doing intimate procedures on the opposite sex such as urinary catheterizations. There is some good information about how nurses can refuse to do intimate procedures on the opposite sex at Standing Up For Your Convictions Against Doing Intimate Procedures On Opposite Sex. There are a number of male family practice doctors who will not do any intimate female examinations such as pap smears, pelvic exams, etc. Why should it be different for nurses?

Because we are nurses not doctors. We are governed by separate registration bodies and scopes of practice. However your point is the same as the general consensus back in 2007 when this was first posted.

QUOTE=Modestwoman;6662There are even some nurses who feel uncomfortable doing intimate procedures on the opposite sex such as urinary catheterizations. There are a number of male family practice doctors who will not do any intimate female examinations such as pap smears, pelvic exams, etc. Why should it be different for nurses?[/QUOTE] This is a completely different situation. As stated in the previous points; nurses have the right to not perform any procedure they do not agree with, or are not comfortable performing. Catherterization and ECGs are a hot topic as nurses keep being dragged before registration bodies and the courts regarding "inappropriate touching".

__________________
'Think not of yourself as the architect of your career but as the sculptor. Expect to have to do a lot of hard hammering and chiselingand scraping and polishing. - BC Forbes'