How would you comfort a dying atheist?

Nurses Spirituality

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Also, do you think it is okay to respect the religious views of other family members , like praying, last rites... if they insist it be done?

Guiding the patient through a life review can be helpful.......

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Specializes in PDN; Burn; Phone triage.
I don't want my relatives to be beaten with sticks. I want them to come out of the walls wearing sort of medieval costumes and start performing Shakespeare's "Richard the Second" with me lying there as the dying John of Gaunt. I want my last words to be, This Blessed Plot, This Earth, This Realm This Vermilion, South Dakota. Then I want my sister to stick dynamite in my ear and blow me to a magic land my mother told me about. Where the hell is Kingdom Come anyway. THAT'S HOW AN ATHEIST SHOULD DIE !

I actually had to google what you were saying.

/also, the marijuana, you might want to tone it down a bit ;)

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Specializes in none.
I actually had to google what you were saying.

/also, the marijuana, you might want to tone it down a bit ;)

Haven't tone Mary Jane down since the 60's, why start now? Proud Mary will keep on burning!

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Be careful brother. THC in the system on a random drug screen will get you canned and quite probably cost you your lic.....

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Specializes in none.
Be careful brother. THC in the system on a random drug screen will get you canned and quite probably cost you your lic.....

I'm sorry to say this but my post was what you call 'Joke'. Something to invoke humor. It is sad in these days that all of us are walking on egg shells when it comes to drugs. I go to the VA. Every two or three months I get tested. Last time I failed because of Oxycontin, The doctor closed the door and ask me," You can tell me. Where did you get it? I looked back at him and I said, "You should know. You prescribed it for me after my surgery." He said, "Oh yeah. I did didn't I." True Story

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GYN: Do you still have your appendix?

Me: Ummm, no... You took it out when you did my exploratory lap....

GYN: Oops.

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Specializes in Med Surg - Renal.
Also, do you think it is okay to respect the religious views of other family members , like praying, last rites... if they insist it be done?

"Hello, Social Work? Hi, It's me MN-Nurse. You know that atheist patient who is end of life? Yeah, that one. He's got a bunch of family members insisting on last rites, could you help me straighten those goofballs out? You will? Thanks!"

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I'd get our chaplain to work on that one.

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I'd get our chaplain to work on that one.

An Atheist chaplain... I think I need to start that service.

"Do you believe that there is no god and you will not be entering the gates of heaven once your life ceases to be?"

"Yes."

"Do you take science before all others and accept the fact that you will experience nothing once your life ceases to be?"

"Yes."

"In the name of Dawkins and Hawking and Einstein and Sagan, I bless you my fellow traveler. May you rest in peace."

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Chaplains are there to help those of all faiths, even those whose "faith" is lacking faith in a deity. :) We have some really good ones. LOVE them. It's their job to provide spiritual support. And they're a great resource for questions like the OP, they know if there's something special or different to keep in mind for someone of a faith you're not familiar with. And they have contacts for bringing in someone if it's something they can't do, for example a Catholic family needing Last Rites, they can bring in a priest of the chaplain isn't one. If you haven't had the occasion to use the chaplain services at your hospital, look into it. They're a fabulous resource, even when it's not something you'd obviously think to call the chaplain for. :)

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I've been a hospice nurse for about 5 years now. Spirituality is not only about religion. When a pt. is dying, it's about the pts wants, beliefs, and desires, not the nurse's. The nurse is there to listen to the pt and support them, not to tell them they are wrong about their feelings and beliefs. My personal feelings are mine, but I respect other people who feel differently. I have been with many, many pt.'s while they are dying. If they ( or their families) want to pray, or have a priest give last rites, I quietly stand there and bow my head. I'm not Catholic and I don't pretend to be but I do respect a pt's beliefs. Chaplains are trained to assist everyone with their spiritual beliefs. They are great! Use them!It would be nice to go back to the days when religion, money, and politics were not discussed!

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Well depending upon one's point of view you could go with:

"It's all a big nothing" "In the end you die in your own arms"

Mama Livia - The Sopranos

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