Non-religious nurses/students

[greenfaery]

What do you say when a very religious patient asks if you are religious (and you aren't)? Yesterday during my clinical that was the first question my patient asked me after I introduced myself and I said "no, im not religious myself, but I have respect for all my patient's religious choices." I don't know if there was any right answer here, but she was very offended by that. She said she disagrees with that and was giving me a hard time for the rest of the day. Can anyone offer an advice on what would have been a better way to handle that situation?

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I'd drop the "no, I'm not religious myself" and just say that you respect all patients' beliefs. She doesn't need to know what you are or aren't.

Or it could be that she's concerned that her religious needs won't be addressed, so you can turn into a question: "are you asking because you have any concerns about your spiritual care? Is there anything you'd like me to do/arrange for you?"

[greenfaery]

Thanks, that's good advice, I'll do that next time.

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

You can try to evade the question by turning it around on her. Ask her if she has any spiritual needs and would she like to speak to a pastoral care person. If she presses you, tell her that you try to keep you own religious views out of the workplace because religion is such a hot topic for many, but want to make sure that the religious needs of all patients have been met.

I must say, I've very rarely been asked anything of this type of question before. It could be because you are a student and spending so much time in the room with the patient. It's best to avoid having personal information about yourself pried out of you by patients.

[AOx1]

I agree completely with Meriwhen. I would add one caveat- you will occasionally encounter someone who sees it as their duty to convert you to their faith. I work with an atheist and she handles it very professionally. She simply repeats "I appreciate your concern for me at a time when you are ill. How can I help you meet your spiritual needs?" and then just extricates herself from the situation. Some people will back off, others won't give up. But at that point, you've made an attempt to meet the needs of your patient. She told me she tries to focus on their good intentions, even though they aren't always respectful of her differing views. It sounds as if you may have run into this type if she was offended by your differing beliefs. You were polite and professional.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

You never answer a question like that or you put the question back at them and redirect it.

Patient:

Are you religious?

You:

You have religion on your mind today. Or, Is it important that the nurses taking care of you are religious?

Get her to talk about religioun by getting the subject off of you. Never talk about yourself. Always keep the focus on the patient.

[Nepenthe Sea]

I'm really glad that the OP posted this because I live in a VERY religous area, where even the nursing faculty talk about praying with their patients and discussing religion with them. I have been wondering how I will approach this when the time comes, because I know it will. Thanks:)

[tnbutterfly - Mary, BSN]

These are great questions and suggestions.

There is a thread about this in the Blog section. You might find some helpful information there.

The Nurse's Role in Providing Spiritual Care - Is It OK to Pray?

[greenfaery]

Thank you all for your advice about this situation, it's been very helpful!

[hpygrl01]

Great info on this thread. I love the therapeutic talk that you each display. I plan to incorporate it into my practice as a student nurse.

[NamasteNurse, BSN, RN]

There's a couple of choice I guess....one might be to say that you aren't sure what you believe right now, but you think there's probably something "out there". (If you do) another thing you could do is turn it around and ask the pt what they think, You could keep it light and say "I'don't know what I believe, what religion do you follow?" A lot of people who ask things like that just wanna talk and when they do try to press you you can say , "hummm, I'll think about that, thanks!" You could say "I believe in the golden rule, do unto others what you would have them do unto you, that's why I'm a nurse", "because I love helping people"

[dnp2004]

In the State I am in this rarely comes up. I can't remember the last time a patient tried to convert a caretaker. Most people view this as inappropiate behavior. We have been taught to stay away from the taboos that can get you terminated the fastest. Those being religion, sex and politics. I never have brought up religious beliefs to patients either. That would be crossing the professional and ethical line.