atheism religion and religious hospitals

[CalicoKitty]

I am an atheist. I work in a non-religious hospital. I like what I do, but there are 2 closer hospitals to me that are both religious. One Adventist and one Catholic. I really don't know how I'd feel working at a religious based hospital, since I feel that somehow I'd be "supporting" the religion. Is there a way of just thinking of it as a "job" without the ethical dilemma of working at a place that supports differing religious beliefs? (Not just geared towards atheists, but I know there are a lot of religions and the employees of various hospitals may not be working with the same one they believe in?) I also work in an area with a good amount of other beliefs like Jewish and Muslims.

So, more I'm asking how do you justify to yourselves working in a place with different spiritual values, or would you avoid that from an ethical standpoint.

(I really could go for a job 3 miles from home, I mean, I could walk it!). Just having a hard time wrapping my heart around it.

[elkpark]

Could you address that?

I already addressed it at the beginning of my first post

Yes, in the first two sentences of your original post. The remainder of your post, and your additional post, have been playing the victim card about how you poor Christians suffer in American society because you're not allowed to impose your beliefs on all the rest of us.

[RNBearColumbus, BSN]

I do have a funny story about catholic hospital though. One day, the elevator door opened and the only thing in there was a statue of St. Anthony. You can imagine my surprise. Apparently one of its fingers was broken and it was being taken for repair. The person moving it set it down in the elevator and the doors closed before he could get himself in. He ended up calling elevators for some time to get the right one to his floor and quite a few people reported a statue alone on the elvator

This is even funnier when you realize that St. Anthony is the patron saint of lost things.

[heron, ASN, RN]

Oh, for pete's sake, MidLifeRN, you took a interesting discussion about an atheist's ethical concerns and tried to make it all about you and your religion.

And those who engage with her about that are doing the very same thing. It takes two to tango - or hijack a thread.

Just. Stop. It.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

Oh, for pete's sake, MidLifeRN, you took a interesting discussion about an atheist's ethical concerns and tried to make it all about you and your religion.

And those who engage with her about that are doing the very same thing. It takes two to tango - or hijack a thread.

Just. Stop. It.

Eeek heron . . . you just engaged MidLifeRN.

[heron, ASN, RN]

Eeek heron . . . you just engaged MidLifeRN.

Indeed, I include myself, which is why I expanded my ignore list.

[Maevish, ASN, RN]

I appreciate people's comments and introspection. For the record, it isn't the prayer/daily reflections stuff that is bothersome. It really is just trying to sort out the ethics of working for a company (religious organization) that goes against many of my deeply held moral beliefs.

I really liked someone's point that working for a religious hospital really isn't going to be significantly different than working for any other corporate hospital (which mine is).

I've been generally lucky that I haven't had to deal with too many ethical issues. (I really hate sticking NG tubes in terminally ill patients that keep ripping them out, necessitating restraints that don't work anyway). I really wish more people had advanced directives, and, as part of all hospital admissions, I try to at least encourage people to talk with social work or their families about them. I wish more people understood about code status, and how even if we (geriatric, medicine) resuscitate someone, chances are they will still die in a few days, just won't be awake in the ICU.

Glad you got some answers, but if your struggles are with yourself (and they seem to be because the available jobs are going to be mostly hospitals), then maybe something like insurance work or advice nursing would be better for you.

Also, advanced directives help, but they're honestly just there to be a guide as to what the pt wanted before they could no longer make their own decisions. They can be gone against by a family member and it's perfectly legal (something I will NEVER understand because I thought that was the whole point of an AD).

In ICU (and when I was in Oncology, obviously) we have situations like that and it sucks because we're doing a LOT to these poor people at the behest of their families. I've only ever had a couple of situations, in my only 9 years of nursing, where religion was involved at ALL in end-of-life decisions. Even in those cases it was always because of the family and them wanting to keep the pt alive; it is never the hospital (even if it was a religious one) in my experience, but if things have gone on "too far" an ethics committee will be gathered because that's more of a human thing than a law thing.

Unless you work for a Catholic or any religious hospital that doesn't offer abortions (or whatever the religious restriction would be) or have a problem with it personally, there should be no problems. If you feel like there would be some sort of threat to something you believe in/against, then (sorry if this comes out rude) either be more sure of what you believe in or change your stance. Since hospitals really have no bearing, aside from the mission statement and the presence of clergy, on the staff's individual beliefs staff from all religious backgrounds can all work under one roof quite easily without incident.

If, for example, you were against abortions, maybe you'd want to work at a facility that supported that stance so that would never be an issue for you. Same with other big issues. However, unless you're independently wealthy and don't have to work, you will have to take a job somewhere, so it's a moot point. Just pick the one with the biggest pro list because no one place will match up ideally with everything.

xo

[Maevish, ASN, RN]

Oh please people, including those of you who claim to be Christians. You know damn well that if a Christian politely states their belief in public, they are immediately labelled as intolerant bigots. Does Tim Tebow or Kirk Cameron ring a bell ? You expect us to put up with all the moral decay that is now the mainstream without protest.

No, they're just annoying about it and that's what gets old fast. I've seen interviews with people like Bubba Watson and Tim Tebow where they're asked about their sports (NOT their religion) and they, literally, every sentence or every other sentence have to mention something about god and how that impacts their lives. I get it. I still consider myself deep deep DEEP down a Christian, but I don't care what your religion is. I don't need it invading my sports time and I don't need people mentioning it every 2 seconds because that DOES get annoying. Depending on the mood these types of athletes are in you can't get a straight answer out of the fools and it's obnoxious. I get it. They love their god. It's a beautiful thing. It doesn't need to be mentioned 30+ times in a sports interview where they're being asked about the GAME they play, not their favorite Psalms.

That's what people, including myself, find annoying.

xo

[MidLifeRN2012]

Ha ha...obviously you are all threatened by me since I've had so many predictably negative responses. Including from fake Christians.

Again..what are you so afraid of?

[Maevish, ASN, RN]

Ha ha...obviously you are all threatened by me since I've had so many predictably negative responses. Including from fake Christians.

Again..what are you so afraid of?

...just keep swimming, just keep swimming... lol

I didn't think I was afraid or offended by you so don't lump me into this mess!

xo

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

Closed for review.