Working in health we are surely aware of the need to base what we do on evidence. Although nurses are not necessarily independent as the patient advocate. Advocacy is still an important part of the nursing role and one requiring specific advice in some instances.
Earlier this month a Guardian article related the ever more precarious position of the South African rhino and how claims about the curative properties of rhino horn as a medicine fuels poaching. The UK is nowhere near South Africa or China so what gives? What gives is the Planet, the tiger too and the biosphere in general. Apparently rhino horn is just compacted keratin and has no medicinal properties.
Nurses tend to be a green, ecologically minded group and the best source of change comes from within. It is never easy to change the beliefs of others, especially when your culture venerates its elders. Belief also remains a powerful factor in health. Despite this do nurses not have a duty to challenge beliefs that are wrong, to educate their communities?
What price true literacy: spiritual, 3Rs, ICT, health, environmental ....?
There must be a way for nurses to unite on this -
across cultures, borders, digital barricades, politics, beliefs ....
As we make a difference individually with patients and carers ... collectively can we extend our reach to other communities too? While there's still time - and we try not to bite our nails.
Interesting and clearly ironic in the UK that after a generation public health is to have a new service with a return to the local authorities.
