"Are you saved?" How do YOU deal with these types of questions

[porterwoman]

I would love to hear from some more experienced ppl some ways to deal with these types of personal questions. In my region, there are many devout evangelical Christian people who I think are genuinely concerned about the state of my soul. When folks like this are in the hospital, they're also feeling vulnerable, and they probably want to discuss their faith with someone who can help them feel more grounded. I am not necessarily that person.

I get the questions, "Are you saved?" "What church do you go to?" "Have you accepted Jesus as your lord and savior?" etc. frequently in the hospital where I work. 1. I don't believe my personal religious stuff is my patients' business. 2. I do not want to be dishonest about my personal religious/lack of religious stuff.

So far, the best I've come up with is, "It sounds like Christ is important in your life. Tell me more about that."

Thoughts? Opinions?

Rebecca, that agnostic porterwoman

[JessicaInOr]

This thread is really turning nasty.

It needs to be shut down, IMO.

This wasn't supposed to turn into Christians vs nonChrstians, it was originally a question about how to handle questions at work.

I am a Christian, but I posted earlier that I felt we should leave religion out of the workplace. It is not a level playing field between workers and patients.

So why not either get back on the subject or close it down. It's really taking a nasty turn, people are getting too upset over this.

Maybe this thread has outlived its usefulness???

I'm not sure I agree. According to the numbers of people reading and posting, it is a topic people are interested in. If anything this is a good lesson in boundaries and that seems to be the core issue of the thread anyway.

People don't understand why others are insulted. If we can't express our feelings, will the topic go away? No, it will still be there, and not discussed. Avoiding issues doesn't help.

As for getting nasty, sure. It is leading that way but hopefully if we show the other side why we are feeling insulted or our space has been invaded, then and only then can we learn from one another.

[CSL]

I have just recently discussed this question with my spiritual advisor. Her advice was to simply say "I am here to take care of you. It is not professsional of me to discuss my personal life". She had also suggested "If you have spiritual issues you would like to discuss I would be more than happy to call the chaplain to talk with you". Having lived around fundamentalist/evangelicals all my life I am not sure either one of these responses would stop them, but I plan on trying them. She thinks it is very much a boundary issue, and as a nurse I am there to take care of the patient--they are not there to take care of me.

[Town & Country]

Personally I do not mind if a patient asks me anything.

They can ask me if I'm saved, how old I am, if I'm married, IF I'm gay or straight,and if I like X,Y, or Z..........

They can ask me anything they want. It's a free country. They are the patient, the in that sense, deserve more leeway.

I would not get offended for that reason.

What I answer and how I answer is up to me.

No reason to get bent out of shape.

[JBudd, MSN]

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Which has included getting people's crystals out of the laundry basket (lots of new Agers here)

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OK, just like the "I'm going to hell" offended you, the above offended me. We shouldn't be belittling anyone's religion or spiritual path.

If that offended you, I'm sorry, because I obviously didn't express myself well enough. I meant that I respected their beliefs enough to go retrieve their crystals from the laundry basket when they were thrown out by mistake, because no one knew they were there when the linens were changed. If I didn't respect their beliefs, I wouldn't have "bothered". No disrespect intended.

[prmenrs, RN]

I am closing this thread pending moderator discussion.

[Nurse Ratched, RN]

Folks, since this thread has wandered off course (a thread on religion got ugly? No! ) and the original poster has already gotten a number of good suggestions regarding how to respond to such a question in the workplace setting, we're going to put this one to bed. Thanks to everyone who tried to keep it on topic.