It all started with an innocent question regarding a facility’s decision to mandate vaccines for all staff, colleagues, and contractors. The question was: had anyone seen it happening in their hospitals or schools. The first dozen or so comments were standard yes, no, ‘I heard something’ and ‘not yet but I’ll do it if required’ type responses.
And then it went down…
Instead of just answering the question like those before him or her, a user went off script expostulating those who have no quarrel about taking the vaccine stating they shouldn’t cry when they can’t get pregnant, have seizures, get cramps ?, become paralyzed or die from vaccination. The user also went on to correctly state that’s it’s been authorized, not approved. And to top it, the user threw in the infamous 99% survival rate. On a side note, the user may not understand the purpose of Emergency Use Authorization.
But you know what happened next!
Users had a lot to say about the comments. One person replied that the comment was complete nonsense and requested evidence. Another urged the user to “come tell my ventilated patients that.” Someone even commented that, ‘if you don’t want the vaccine you shouldn’t become a nurse.’ The user was also accused of using right-wing conspiracy theory websites for research. When asked again to back up the claims, the user responded “read the science.” When pressed by multiple users for the evidence, the originally outspoken user blasted them all as immature and said bye. The user then retreated by blocking nearly all of them.
And that’s not it
In comes another with a claim that she wouldn’t have to take the vaccine because she has natural antibodies due to already having COVID. After being utterly criticized for the comment, the user went on to agree that a prior history of COVID infection would “probably not” exempt one from a vaccination mandate but that she hopes so.
And we thought nurses were notorious for eating their young
In the madness of it all, there were some users sympathetic and understanding to the decisions people make for themselves. A user offered support by telling users to ‘not let anyone make you feel guilty about your choices;’ while another brought it home emphasizing that they are all nursing students. And that was important to note.
They are on a path to getting to where most of us already are. Not only have their learning experiences been turned upside down, they-like us-also have the added stress of navigating this pandemic. They will eventually come to an understanding that nursing is both an art and a science that will influence their decision making processes for years to come, but they aren’t there yet.
It’s also important for students to understand that as nurses we have a responsibility to our patients; As well, we have a responsibility to ourselves. Whatever choice we make is ours and ours alone but unfortunately as Karl Mordo stated, the bill comes due. And it may come down to making a difficult decision.