nursing

REPLY1

MariaL,

I enjoyed reading your response to this weeks prompt, you made some very valid points in your response. One point that I thought was very important was when you stated acceptance in all situations is important and helpful. Have you encountered something like this during your nursing career?

REPLY2

Let’s talk about the ‘hot topic’ many adults and several high schoolers are doing these days… vaping! Every time I hear about vaping, I get very upset. Vaping is just another way to get people hooked on Nicotine, or the next ‘cool’ thing one should do to fit in with the crowd. Not only do I get upset, ethically, I cannot endorse the use of vaping because of the harm it is causing.

My previous hair dresser’s son was a senior in high school and in order to keep his car, the rule was, he could not smoke cigarettes. His college girlfriend introduced him to vaping. What was the harm in vaping? It wasn’t smoking cigarettes, right? That was what he told his mother. At first, he was just vaping flavors. Tonya (my hairdresser) knew I was a nurse and asked my opinion regarding vaping. At that time, there was not a lot of information out about vaping because it was new. I told Tonya that vaping couldn’t be good for you, but I didn’t have the research to back up my statements. (Now, I do)

Soon her son started adding nicotine to those flavors. He told his mother he was just having fun and vaping was something he and his girlfriend could do together. Blaha (n.d.) tells us that vaping is less harmful than smoking traditional cigarettes. If you are vaping with Nicotine, remember, Nicotine is toxic. It causes your blood pressure and adrenaline to increase, which will raise your heart rate and that can elevate your chances of a heart attack (Blaha, n.d.).

Today, I would approach this situation very differently. I would have a plethora of facts for Tonya to share with her son and his girlfriend regarding the harmful effects of vaping. Factual information they could use to make the best decision concerning their wish to continue their vaping journey or to stop the journey… options!