Why Don’t Conservatives Use Their Heads?
October 29, 2018
Share:I have been a registered nurse for over 20 years. I know many caring, intelligent, educated people in the profession and yet I am continually baffled as to how they can support the current administration.
One of the most difficult aspects of my nursing education was learning to think critically. I remember telling my family and friends that I had to learn to think differently. In my practice I am constantly gathering facts. Facts that I can see. Facts that I can measure. Facts that are reported. I then evaluate those facts to draw conclusions and make decisions that are critical to the care of my patients.
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During my nursing education, I was taught many things. It is amazing the number of abbreviations we use in nursing – PO, PRN, BID, TID, and many others. One of the most important ones is EBP, Evidence Based Practice. What this means is that I use the latest scientific research in my practice. I don’t accept “I think” or “I feel” as basis for my practice. Professional journal articles or presentations are based on fact; documented, peer-reviewed facts. My patients can rest assured that I am providing the best care, the best information, based on scientific research and facts. A course called “Nursing Research” taught me how to evaluate journal articles and other presentations for relevance and accuracy.
My education is never-ending. I began my career with an Associate Degree of Nursing and later earned a Bachelor Degree of Nursing. It is ongoing. Every two years I must renew my license and to do that I must have continuing education hours. The courses that I take, the seminars that I attend, are accredited by licensing agencies and are evidence-based. The Board of Nurse Examiners (BNE) ensures compliance by performing random audits of nurses’ education records.
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As things change, they get better. I wash my hands upon entering a patient room to prevent cross-contamination. I turn incapacitated patients to prevent decubitus ulcers (bed sores). Medications that I used to routinely use, I no longer use because they were found to be ineffective or even dangerous.
We are taught to be compassionate, to be non-judgmental, to be aware of and accepting of social differences. The level of care that I provide is not dependent on how much money a person has or how they look or dress or how the choose to worship or even if they worship.
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This is how I was trained to think. This is how all nurses are trained to think. I can only speculate as to why so many of my intelligent, well-educated, and caring colleagues continue to support this president. Maybe they are accustomed to being told how to think by fathers, doctors, or other male authority figures. Or, maybe this president speaks to closely held prejudices, prejudices they prefer to not express. Or, maybe they have never encountered the kinds of abuses that this administration encourages. I just don’t know.
Personally, I cannot support a president who is a science denier. This is a president who denies what 97% of scientists agree is true. That climate change is real, that it is caused by human activity, and that it will alter life as we know it (if we survive). This is a president who says things that are patently untrue without any evidence or fact checking. This is a president who calls any unfavorable news report or one he simply dislikes “fake news.” This is a president who bullies or demeans anyone that he feels is somehow “less,” whether it is minorities, women, or Muslims.
I ask my fellow nurses to use their training and critical thinking skills. Fact check the president’s statements for truth and accuracy. Do the same for your news sources. If four out of five news organizations report a story and one reports the same set of facts as 180 degrees opposite, what is most likely true, that four colluded to present “fake news,” or that one is altering the facts of the story. Do some self-examination for your own motivations.
As caregivers, we are trained to check our prejudices, to treat everyone with the same degree of respect. We are trained to use facts. We are trained to be truthful. I don’t think we should expect or accept less from our president.
FURTHER READING
Why Liberal Hearts Bleed and Conservatives Don’t
These key psychological differences can determine whether you’re liberal or conservative
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