Christian Science Nurses

[bookwormom]

I'm curious if anyone has had professional interaction with Christian Science nurses. I've looked at some of their training programs on the internet (just out of interest, I'm not thinking of enrolling) and it looks like the focus is on Nursing Assistant skills in a religious context.

Here is a website which I found interesting: http://christianscience.com/christian-science-nurse.html

[bookwormom]

"Back in Jesus' day, inn keepers called themselves nurses while they cared for wounded and fatigue travelers."

Does the compassionate Samaritan call himself a nurse? Does the innkeeper call himself a nurse?

[RedBrick]

I have wrestled with Christian Science my entire life. My grandmother was a Christian Science Practitioner. At the end of her life, she opted to go to a Christian Science nursing home, where she was cared for by Christian Science nurses. As I understand it, it is basic palliative care without medication or medical interventions other than simple wound care. Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, grew up in an era when medicine was much more primitive than it is today. We have a museum in Colorado Springs with photographs of doctors and nurses who induced pneumothorax to TB patients, thinking they should give the lungs a rest. Do some Christian Scientist children die for lack of medical care? Yes, this has happened. But medical interventions do not always keep children from expiring, either. My particular criticism of Christian Science is that a practitioner will not treat a Christian Scientist at the same time that person is under the care of a physician, presumably because the two different modes of treatment would be at odds with each other. Curiously, Mary Baker Eddy was an admirer of Florence Nightingale, and was her contemporary. Check out http://www.marybakereddylibrary.org/about/press/release/mary-baker-eddy-library-celebr for a description of a nursing conference held last year to celebrate Women's History Month. I would like to hear if there is anyone else here who grew up in CS. I am not a member of CS at this point in my life, but I do admire Mrs. Eddy's pioneering work and conviction. Prayer is not an amulet, but a different way of thinking. This type of thinking has found its way into modern psychological thinking and is reflected in some aspects of quantum physics. Christian Science is not the only religious body that holds to these ideas.

[midnightsummer]

It is better for everyone that religious convictions and health care is kept separate. I would not want to be treated by a doctor or nurse who believes in demon possessions. I know this sounds extreme but we all have the right to have faith that is not based on science. Medicine can only be practiced with rational thought and science. This is a very simplistic thought but I would not want to live and work with irrational co workers.

[RedBrick]

Of course this begs the question, who decides what is rational? Not all religious theory is irrational. If it were, it would just be superstition. There would also be no place for chaplains in hospitals. There are nursing diagnoses that specifically address spiritual crises. Religion is involved with spirituality, but spirituality is not necessarily involved with religion. I agree with you that one's religious beliefs should not deter from one's medical practice. However, it is naive to think that people in healthcare often do not work from a spiritual conviction of one type or another. I believe Florence Nightingale was a deeply spiritual person, and that inspired her to do her work.

[tewdles, RN]

Bottom line is this...the lay public will have no idea what the difference is between an CS nurse and a registered nurse. Nursing is a profession which cannot afford to allow untrained persons to hijack the title "nurse". There is too much risk on too many levels to simply adopt a "live and let live" attitude about this issue. The CS "nurse" is not a nurse, he/she is a layperson and may only use a lay title, IMHO.

[RedBrick]

The lay public is unlikely to encounter a Christian Science nurse outside a CS facility. I have never met such a person who was impersonating a registered nurse. Quite the contrary, such nurses would probably not want to be confused with being a registered nurse. As far as the term nurse is concerned, I really do not like referring to myself as a nurse. The word nurse to me connotes a female person, and I am a man. The word nurse comes from nutrire...to suckle, and it first meant a woman who nursed a child, as a wet-nurse (16th century English usage). It was first used as meaning a person who cared for the sick in 1736.

[midnightsummer]

I am sorry but rational thought is based on critical thinking. Religion demands its followers to just have faith. I am not stating that your religion is superstition but I am saying that it is not science. Science is made to be debated, it can be wrong and must be challenged with evidence and facts. Science has evolved due to critical thinking. I am sure that we can all agree that as workers in the health profession we cannot diagnose a patient by quoting the bible or any other holy book or withhold any care. :yeah::yeah:Afterward whatever religious conviction or inspiration a person may have is a private matter. I think that if these resources are availble for comforting patinets its normal but it is not meant to be accepted as a science.

[Angel@MyTable, RN]

I graduate in May, (and I will graduate and pass the NCLEX :) ). I will have worked too HARD for just over 4 years (including pre-req's) to get this degree + license for someone who is of Christian Science faith to be able to call themselves a nurse!

If someone in the Christian Science faith want to be called a nurse, then they should have to go to school like everyone else to EARN the title! IMO

[RedBrick]

I couldn't agree with you more. I do not diagnose anyone based on the Bible or any other book. I do not even identify as a Christian. I am a registered nurse, and I use the NANDA nursing diagnoses to direct my practice. I have not been speaking about Christian Science here as an adherent. I just find it interesting that there are many ways to approach caring for others. Science does have a common ancestor with religion, that is, philosophy. Human thinking, whether deemed rational or otherwise, is at the beginning of any endeavor, be it scientific or not. I want to thank everyone for joining in this conversation. To my way of thinking, nursing is the holiest and most humane profession, embodying as it does the directives of every positive form of human thought.

[sjt9721, BSN, RN]

I disagree. I find the whole "I'm a nurse, you're not" issue incredibly trivial for people who should be acting more like professionals. Why not show the world what makes you a nurse through actions rather than pointlessly trivializing their own definitions of nurse.

Actions speak louder than words, but ignorance is screams like a child with a megaphone.

My thoughts on protecting the title "nurse".....

It's not so much about how hard I've worked, or how long I went to school. It's about the public. Protecting the title ensures the public that anyone presenting themself as a "nurse", did indeed complete the well-established, formal education, training, & licensure specific to nursing.

We aren't just healthcare providers, but also healthcare consumers. I resent the description of this topic being "trivial" when it comes to something that helps me (and others) to be more informed consumers.

[RedBrick]

Actually, the legislation that has happened in parts of the country around this topic are due to protecting the public's understanding of the title "nurse." We have used this title too long to likely change it, but I really don't like the word nurse very much. To me it connotes a female person. Believe me, Christian Science nurses are NOT trying to take away business from any professional nurse. They do not even believe in medical practice as the preferred healing modality.