Culture

A Nurse Is Being Dragged For Her TikTok Suggesting Abstinence Is The Best Preventative For STIs

"Where did this regime of evil TikTok nurses even come from?"

by Michelle Rennex  15 January 2020
TikTok Nurse STD Abstinence

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A popular content creator on TikTok is being criticised for her video about abstinence and STI prevention.

Nurse Holly, as she’s known online, is a popular TikTok personality with over 1.5 million followers on the app. Holly is a Tennessee-based registered nurse and often creates videos about her chosen profession, ranging from patient interactions to nursing school content.

However, a now-deleted TikTok of Holly sharing the “best way to prevent STDs” has landed her in hot water. The video in question features Nurse Holly claiming that “waiting for sex until marriage” is the key to sexually transmitted disease prevention.

Before the video was deleted, @dumbbitchmargo uploaded it to Twitter where it quickly went viral. “If I go to get tested and the nurse tell[s] me I should have waited ’til marriage, SOMEONE is getting knocked tf out,” Margo captioned the video.

Criticism started to pour in over Nurse Holly’s clearly religious approach to her medical advice, which another nurse claimed was irresponsible and unprofessional. The opposing nurse also claimed that Nurse Holly’s religious bias totally went against the nursing code of ethics.

In Australia, conscientious objection, the act of refusing to participate in procedures based on personal religious, moral and ethical beliefs, is permitted. However, spreading false information based on religious beliefs is not.

Nurse Holly explained to BuzzFeed News that her intention with the video was only to “promote positivity and healthy lifestyles” to the “little girls” who follow her.  But despite Nurse Holly’s intention, the spread of false information is dangerous to those unknowledgeable.

While having only one partner can reduce the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, there is no guarantee that the person you choose marry is free of STIs. Instead, a more effective method in reducing the likelihood of catching an STI is by using protection like condoms, which are 98% effective.

People noted that preaching for abstinence doesn’t provide any valid advice to those seeking medical opinion, and found flaws in Nurse Holly’s suggestion.

Nurse Holly Just Really Loves God

After the abstinence video went viral, a number of God-related videos from Nurse Holly’s page were uncovered. In one video, she shared the ways she deals with stress and anxiety, while dressed in her nursing scrubs. The cure? “Lots of water, plenty of sleep, exercise, and a whole lot of Jesus!”

For most people, such a proud show of religious bias would be a cause of concern, but some internet sleuths deduced that Nurse Holly actually works at a special hospital. Holly’s alleged employer, Saint Thomas Health is a Tennessee faith-based, not-for-profit healthcare system, and so are more likely to accept Nurse Holly’s religious approach.

The Internet And Their Newfound Fear Of Nurses

However this is not a sentiment shared online, with people claiming that TikTok has actually made them fearful of nurses. This is because the trend of nurses using TikTok has only worked to expose their clear bias and judgements in how they treat patients.

Another pointed out that the theme of “evil TikTok nurses” has recently become a trend with the Nurse Holly debacle being added to the fold. Nurse Holly follows Danyelle Rose, a nurse who faced backlash at the end of 2019 for making TikTok’s implying that patients fake their ailments in hospital.

However, the “evil” nurses on TikTok are an outlier to the caring men and women who care for their patients without judgement. To combat the Nurse Holly energy being spread online, people have begun sharing examples of positive nurses with quality advice to follow on the app including @eatroamheal, @shesinscrubs and @hoodratdiego.

Junkee has reached out to Nurse Holly for comment. 

Update: 16/01/2020
Junkee reached out to Ascension, the organisation responsible for Saint Thomas Health, for comment and they responded with: “Ascension Saint Thomas is aware of the video circulating on Twitter. The video’s creator is not a current associate of Ascension Saint Thomas and the views expressed in her posts do not represent those of our organisation. Ascension Saint Thomas is dedicated to providing compassionate care to the communities we serve.”