I'm an atheist. I am uncomfortable around religious situations. I haven't started nursing school yet (14 weeks to go). I'm concerned with being confronted with people that would ask me to "Pray for them" and stuff. I don't know if this is a common occurrence among patients, etc. Aside from not wanting to be included in religious sentiments, I also am very uncomfortable with lying. I think I would find moral difficulty with saying "Okay" to someone that would ask me to pray for them.
I'd prefer to hear from atheists how they deal with situations like that. I'd rather not get into a religion discussion, if it can be avoided.
I was trying to search for old threads, but the links from the search engine are not going to the correct pages.
Another atheist here. My response is "I will keep you in my thoughts." That should be enough.
If asked to pray with them I will bow my head and pray with them. It's not dishonest in any way because you are nurturing your patient (it's not as if the GOD of Atheism will throw lightning bolts at me for praying...). My lack of religious belief should never compromise how I care for my patients. To refuse such a simple gesture may change the way in which a patient or family perceives me and our relationship.
I think atheists are allowed much more latitude in what they are able to do because we don't have any dogma dictating our behavior. We are free to act as we see fit for the given situation. I will read the Bible, Torah or Koran to a patient, I will pray the rosary with them, I will say Amen after a prayer ... because there is nothing or nobody to tell me not to.
as a patient I WOULD NOT want a person that doesnt even believe praying for me.so please dont do this,I find it WAY more offensive than you going to find me a preacher.
Loner, I'm sorry to hear that prayer makes you uncomfortable, that's a shame. I don't know what circumstances in life have led you to become an atheist, but that is your choice and you have every right to that choice. I don't think I can offer you much advice, since I have a strong faith in God, which has enriched my life beyond measure. I used to refer to myself as a loner too, and my life was quite miserable (even while going to church) before I accepted Jesus into my life, which made all the difference. I am a Paramedic, an LPN and an RN student. I can tell you one thing for sure; our patients depend on us for hope. If we don't have hope ourselves, we can't offer it to them. My God is also the very source of love, caring and healing. I can't fully offer any of those things without God either. I'm not going to try to convince you to become a Christian, because you obviously aren't ready for that now. I can only guess that you haven't heard a clear presentation of the gospel, because I feel that anyone that hears it correctly stated would not deny it. Being a Christian to me is so valuable it's a little bit like being offered a million or a billion dollars, most people would consider it a great blessing, but would probably be skeptical. And skepticism is something that probably keeps many people from the joys of being a Christian. I'm sorry if I have offended you by talking about my faith, but it's the core of who I am and I feel that good news needs to be shared. I hope you find the answers you are looking for loner.
Interestingly enough patients around here rarely ask staff to pray with them. I'm sure perhaps some of the more religious staff might get asked more often than the rest of us, but it's not all that common.
However, it's best to have a strategy if that should occur, but it's not something you should be overly concerned with.
Joint commission mandates we address their spiritual concerns, but this can be done simply through listening and referring to the chaplain services. You shouldn't feel obligated to pray for and with patients if you're uncomfortable.
HvnSntRN, Sorry to hear about your experiences. I would probably be an atheist too if that was the type of Christian I had exposure to. That's terrible. As I said in my previous post, you have every right to be an atheist. You know what; life doesn't become perfect after become a Christian. The problems are still there, Christian or not. However, I can tell you that coping with problems has become much easier and I don't carry the weight of stress on my back anymore. I don't openly preach to people myself, there's no point to it. If someone asks me about my faith in private, I will share a little and then walk away. 9 times out of 10 they will get a hold of me, because they are hungry for more after hearing the truth. I hope that doesn't offend you, it's simply the truth. I won't attack you or make fun of you for being an atheist, and I hope that nobody here will ridicule or attack me for my faith. Once again, I'm sorry that there are bad examples of Christians in the world. I guess every group of people has them, and I'm certainly not perfect myself.
In my experience, I cannot recall being asked even once to pray with someone. I can't imagine this happens very often, if at all.
I think this is definitely a regional/cultural thing. I've worked in hospitals wearing various hats (finishing my RN in a few months) going on 7 years now, all of it in Texas. I've lost track of how many times I've been asked.
I usually don't mind bowing my head and holding a hand or two in such situations.
The one thing that really bothers me is when patients turn and ask me if I believe in Jesus.
Seriously. This has happened at least a half-dozen times. The patient is usually scared and afraid, and I still don't know the best way to answer that to help the patient other than outright lying to them, which isn't something I particularly want to do.
The one thing that really bothers me is when patients turn and ask me if I believe in Jesus.
Seriously. This has happened at least a half-dozen times. The patient is usually scared and afraid, and I still don't know the best way to answer that to help the patient other than outright lying to them, which isn't something I particularly want to do.
I've been in that situation and at that point I have absolutely no problem saying. "Of course. Do you believe in Heaven? I do."
Loner, I stated earlier that I didn't have an answer for you. After giving it more thought I think I can relate. Although I am a Christian, I would be uncomfortable praying to another "god" since there is only one God to me. In such a case I would hold their hand and allow them to pray. If they wanted ME to pray in a certain way (according to their faith) I would probably try to find someone that could offer more than I could. I would not want to offend them by using the wrong words if they are accustomed to a ritualistic prayer. When I pray as a Christian, it is very personal and I talk just like I am speaking to a person sitting next to me, in plain language. I am not formal or ritualistic and I certainly don't use thee's and thou's. If someone asks you if you believe in Jesus, just tell the truth. I can say that it doesn't bother me at all to say that I don't believe in other gods or religious figures. If someone asked me about something I don't believe in, I would try to use therapeutic communication and ask them how their faith helps them. I would tell them that I am a Christian, you could be honest and say that you are an atheist if you wanted to. (if the moment felt right to you) I'm sure you wouldn't be the first person to tell them such a thing. I wouldn't share about being a Christian unless a patient asked me to. As I said earlier, I wouldn't say very much, I would let the patient ask me for more. Perhaps you could use the same approach as an atheist. Hope this helps.
Well, try to think of it this way: you are entrenched in the belief system instilled in you from how your parents raised you, and so are many of the religious.
I respectfully disagree with this - only because I was raised in an agnostic household, but would follow my friend's families to church as a child! It's funny, because NOW my mother is the proverbial Bible Thumper today....
I consider myself spiritual and do believe in God, however, have little faith in religion as that tends to be riddled with hypocrisy. I do not attend church, nor believe that my relationship with God is jeopardized by doing so. That being said, my "religion" furthermore forbids me from cramming my beliefs down anyone's throat because, in my eyes, God exists whether you believe in Him or not therefore why would I find one's disbelief threatening?
By the same token, I certainly don't mean to sound like I have anything against church itself. It is a fabulous support system for many people of different needs, a place to harmoniously congregate with like-minded individuals. The same way every medicine is not the right for everyone, different people need a different kind of spiritual "innoculation"....
Should someone ASK your beliefs, there's nothing wrong with being honest. By the same token, asking for you to pray for them, although I can understand your discomfiture, if you don't harbor any beliefs then how do you compromise a non-belief? Simply send an "earnest request" out into the universe, no matter what your "religion" is. Is it really a horrible thing to sacrifice in a person's time of great need?
The Bob
20 Posts
Another atheist here. My response is "I will keep you in my thoughts." That should be enough.
If asked to pray with them I will bow my head and pray with them. It's not dishonest in any way because you are nurturing your patient (it's not as if the GOD of Atheism will throw lightning bolts at me for praying...
). My lack of religious belief should never compromise how I care for my patients. To refuse such a simple gesture may change the way in which a patient or family perceives me and our relationship.
I think atheists are allowed much more latitude in what they are able to do because we don't have any dogma dictating our behavior. We are free to act as we see fit for the given situation. I will read the Bible, Torah or Koran to a patient, I will pray the rosary with them, I will say Amen after a prayer ... because there is nothing or nobody to tell me not to.
Make it about the patient.