I'm going into nursing this fall, and while I think I'll be able to competently manage most aspects of holistic patient care, spirituality is one that throws me for a loop. It's actually not so much spirituality that makes me uncomfortable as it is religion. A friend of mine recently lost her mother, and I noticed that the vast majority of folks expressed their concern with phrases like, "I'm praying for you". I struggled to express the depth of my caring with simple phrases like, "you're in my thoughts." I don't pray. I was raised in an extremely conservative Orthodox Christian home, but I currently identify as more of an agnostic (perhaps Buddhist-leaning) individual. It's my perception that many people expect (in the sense that they believe it is common for) nurses to have some sort of monotheistic beliefs, or to engage in prayer. How do those of you who don't have such beliefs deal with questions and requests regarding prayer?
It has occurred to me that I *could* simply say a prayer - without really subscribing to the idea - just to demonstrate caring...but it feels disingenuous to me. Hoping to start getting comfortable with this topic since I anticipate that it may come up again.
