Expressing our faith through our nursing profession

[wednesday'schild]

I would like to ask all nurses out there to share their thoughts on this;

how do we encounter Jesus Christ through our patients? :)

[SmilingBluEyes]

that answer lies within YOU, not your patient.

Your spiritual journey is between you and your God. Unless the patients ask, we leave them out of it.

I wish you well on your journey. But don't look for this path to be clearer where you work----rather expect your faith to be challenged and often. Only a spiritually-mature person will be able to fully insulate her faith in our profession in many cases.

[kendarswife]

Jesus may not be within all of your patients. That is something that you have to experience with in your self. Remember that all patients are not Christians...they may be Hindu, Pagan, Budist...anything. Whatever the case may be, remember to respect the cultural and religious differences in all of your patients as well as your co-workers. Blessed Be!

[Sis123]

If you and I are Christian, we can remember Jesus' commandment to love one another, help one another and to be kind and gentle with one another. To me, to help, be kind and gentle and to serve one another is central to my belief as a Christian, and I try to practice this in my daily life as I serve others.

Now, when we encounter people of other faiths, we can remember the story of the good samaritan. He found and cared for a person who was an enemy of his people. He did this because he knew it was right to care for that person, even though he didn't gain anything by helping him. So, how we treat others is really a reflection of who *we* are.

I plan on keeping my beliefs to myself, and plan to help and be supportive to all patients I encounter, no matter what their belief.

So, we likely won't find Jesus in our patients, but we can demonstrate our love for him by being the most excellent nurses and giving our best to those in our care.

[EDValerieRN, ASN, RN]

I encounter a guy who thinks he's Jesus about once a week.... but I don't guess that counts . We also had a lady the other day who was pregnant with the baby Jesus. She called him "Jesus White Bread," like wonderbread or something. Quite entertaining!

Seriously though, I work at a Catholic institution. They say prayers over the intercom every morning and every night... even though I am not personally a Catholic, I still find it comforting to work in a place where Christianity is important.

I never bring it up, and don't talk about my religion unless my patient does first.... I believe that seeing the faith of people in the worst times is beautiful, and inspiring. It gives me something to work on in myself.

[MS._Jen_RN, ASN, RN]

I am not a Christian therefore I have never strove to find Jesus in any of my patients. I think though that one could experince many of the teachings of Jesus, Muhammad, Budda , etc. through the loving care that we give to our patients. (As many of their messages are about loving, caring for, and supporting one another.) I know that I am constantly reaffirming the belief (or hope) that humanity is, at its base, a good set of people.

I don't know that it was your intention infer that you might share this finding with your patients, but if such was the case you may want to rethink that. I would reccommend that any relious revelation you may experince through your professional interaction be kept to oneself.

I am glad that you are able to find a deeper meaning in your work though your religion and hope that it continues to support you. Please keep in mind though that not all people would be happy to have Jesus found in them.

May peace of mind and spirit be yours-

Jen

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

EDValerie - I was laughing so hard over your post - I can hardly type. Certainly not to denigrate the topic of this thread, but I can sooo relate to your ER patients. I too work at a Catholic hospital and yes, the prayers bring a sense of peace to me also. I am quite religious but keep things to myself unless a patient requests that I prayer with them...in our institution, we wear a special gold ribbon if we are willing to prayer with patients/staff. Its very inconspicous but there are posters up in the elevators that tell visitors and patients what the gold ribbon means.

[JRapha'sRN]

As an RN I am to assess the whole person--body, mind and spirit. Some of the NANDA Nursing Diagnoses pertain to the spiritual aspect of the person. (Grieving, Hopelessness, Ineffective Coping, Disturbed Self-Concept, Spiritual Distress, etc) Being aware of your patients religion, culture, coping skills and spiritual health are all things we must incorporate into our busy day and care of our patients. We must also figure out how to best address these needs as to help the patient and not cause more spiritual distress by "forcing" our views/thoughts upon our patient. I do my best to live and love as Christ would. This does not mean I am "forcing" my faith on anyone; it means I am loving each of my patients. I don't look for Jesus in my patients (He's not in many of them), but I do try to let His love and light shine out of my life and through my actions and words.

[EDValerieRN, ASN, RN]

Glad to brighten your day a little! These patients were both harmless, but quite entertaining. That is one thing I haven't lacked since becoming a nurse... interesting people.