Has working in a hospital environment (or nursing genrally) made you more spiritual?

[AZO49008]

I'm currently biding my time while waiting for a seat in the nursing program at my local college working as a phlebotomist/lab assistant in a large hospital. I figured it would help me acclimate to the hospital environment and give me a general "lay of the land," and so far it has done exactly that. It has also underscored that nursing is the correct 2nd career choice for me.

But, an unexpected byproduct has been that it has strengthened my spiritual awareness. I've never been a terribly religious person. One parent was Episcopalian and the other was Jewish, and I learned a lot about both the Christian and Jewish doctrines and philosophies. I more or less decided I have no use for organized religion, but have always been what I term as "spiritual". I beleive in a "supreme being" but have always honored and respected this being in my own way, and not through the hymns, creeds and dogmas of organized religions.

I find that my spirituality has risen more to the surface since I have started working in the hospital environment. Some examples:

* When I see the transplant team bringing in a cooler off the helicopter, I am struck by the fact that someone has died and someone else is getting a reprieve from a death sentence. I think about the person who died, what their family must be going through, and I also think about the person getting the transplant - that they have just gotten "the call" and what that means to them.

* When I draw blood one someone who is terminally ill or is about to go through a major operation, I hope that their transition or recovery is peaceful and easy.

* When I have to deal with patients in the psych unit I am struck by how indiscriminate and insidious mental disease is in striking its victims.

In the many instances I have encountered like this, I find myself connecting with them spiritually and for lack of a better way to describe it, saying a little prayer for them despite the fact that I don't subscribe to prayer in the traditional sense.

I'm not surprised at this heightened sense of spirituality, but rather that it hasn't diminished. I figured that over time I would become "desensitized" to the life dramas that are played out in the hospital setting, day in and day out.

Has anyone else experienced a similar phenomenon with their own sense of spirituality?

[MIA-RN]

Has anyone else experienced a similar phenomenon with their own sense of spirituality?

Sort of but it was my re-awakening of spirituality that led me to nursing, more than the other way around.

Whichever the path, it is nice to feel that connection, isn't it?

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

Frankly, I've become less spiritual because my work environment is too busy for me to really get to know any of my patients.

That's a good thing. I don't want to dig too deeply anymore. I just want to get them well and get them home.

I'm too tired to go to church, hardly ever read my Bible, and my daily prayers now go along the lines of "Please dear God, keep me from making a mistake that could harm my patient." Or occasionally, "Please dear God, don't let anyone die/crash on my shift." Even rarer, "OK, we've done all we can, it's in Your hands now. Thank You for this life, this person. May they have comfort and peace."

I hope that doesn't sound too harsh, but it's the truth.

I guess we all have to find our spiritual footing in this business and I think some of us are closer to the answers than people who are not in the health care field.

[Katnip, RN]

AZO, yes, I've become much more sprititual. My path is similar to yours. I don't care much for organized religion. I have rarely felt that "connection" to a greater being, whom I do call God, in a church. I feel that connection in many other places, though and often at work.

When I first started nursing, it was a gradual reawakening for me. Then my son died, and I launched into a spiritual quest. I still haven't found the answers I want, but I find a much deeper connection to my God, and see it more and more in work.

I really think this is a good thing for staff and patients alike.

[elizabells, BSN, RN]

I have a feeling that nursing strengthens whatever you've already got. Please, please nobody flame me for what I'm about to say; it's something I've been struggling with for a long time and am very serious about. I have no intent to offend, but I also have no desire to be told I need to find the Lord.

I grew up in an essentially atheist household - my father's family is Jewish (although he is now a Buddhist) and my mom's family was Christian, but she is a *fierce* atheist. I've always leaned more agnostic myself - sort of wishing I had a definite faith but unable to overcome all the intellectual reasons I'd always been taught against it.

Since starting nursing in a NICU I've found that conflict only deepened. When my primary is doing poorly, I close my eyes and pray with all my strength before I realize I'm doing it. But then, several months ago, we had a mom lose her brother, husband, and full-term, previously healthy (until the shock of the husband's death) baby within 48 hours of each other, and I was right back to wondering how there could possibly be a benevolent deity. Nothing can make me angrier/sadder than a family torturing a baby with no hope for months (literally) because it's "up to God". No, it's up to the oscillator, epi, and dopa drips she's on, plus up to the person doing chest compressions three times a shift. I think God has made his opinion clear at this point.

So all that by way of saying: I think nursing puts *everything* into sharper relief, whether it's faith, atheism, or uncertainty.

[anonymurse]

Sort of but it was my re-awakening of spirituality that led me to nursing, more than the other way around.

Maybe rather than being a spiritual path, the role and environment have potential as a vehicle for personal spiritual unfolding (much as there is no spiritual path inherent in making tea: most will efficiently drop a teabag in boiling water and enjoy their refreshment, some will discover the pleasures of the art of tea itself, and some very few will see beyond to the spiritual potential of tea making--arguably those would have found spiritual growth along the way in nursing, flower arrangement or any other pursuit).

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Don't know why but when I started nursing school and for a long time I was a devout Christian. My spiritual hunger lead to a lot of reading about other religions, science, etc. and now I'm actually less spiritual than when I started nursing. I'm not sure if there's a connection between nursing or not. But I do know that my studies of patho and A&P, physics, etc. has made the world a less spiritual place for me.

[leslie :-D]

i'm aware of what a meticulously-crafted machine, the human body is.

it is pure genius. (thank God.)

and while i can make more sense out of a series of bizarre events (rather than chalk it up to spiritual enlightenment), i remain in awe of what takes place when my pts die.

to date, no one can explain this phenomena.

leslie

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

I've always been a spiritual person, although not conventionally religious. Nursing has made me much more so; not only have I learned that we are truly "fearfully and wonderfully made", but I've discovered that miracles happen every day, if we only know where to look.

I've seen death bring complete peace to patients who suffered terribly in life. I've seen plain, even homely women glow into beauty as their newborns were placed in their arms for the very first time. I've seen long-estranged siblings come together and rediscover their love for each other at the bedside of a dying parent. I've even been blessed to have met many wonderful human beings whose loved ones have been in my care at some point in time, and their continuing presence in my life has enriched and blessed us all.

Corny? I suppose, but it's the reason why I do what I do.:)

[Katnip, RN]

I like the phrase: We are not human beings who happen to be spiritual, but spiritual beings who happen to be human beings.

...I was right back to wondering how there could possibly be a benevolent deity

After my son died, someone casually mentioned that they believe God (for lack of a better word) doesn't cause or prevent the horrors we experience. These events are random or caused by what we as humans do. God is there to turn to for comfort, hope, and yes in my case to question and be angry with for a while. I can't think of God or any other deity who sits around micromanaging every detail of our lives and deaths. But that's just my personal view. I could be wrong. I could be right. Who knows? That's why it's called faith.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

Well said, cyberkat~~

[nyapa, RN]

I don't think I am any less / more spiritual. I have a belief in God. But I think my definition of spirituality has widened. Its not just a matter of religion.

*Its listening to ppl talking about their lives, their fears and hopes for the future, their feelings re: what has happened to them.

*Its watching family and friends interact showing love for each other to create a tight net of support around the loved one.

* Its questioning where has the person gone when they have passed on. I find myself always talking to the person, telling them what I am doing, and being gentle, when I am attending to last offices. You may have the shell of a person there, but are they watching/listening?

*Its respecting other ppls beliefs