"The Jesus Factor"

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A collegue of mine in the ICU is soon moving to Home Health for several reasons, both personal and otherwise. At the nurses station the other day, she and one of the doctors were talking, and she mentioned to him, regarding one of his patients, that "The Jesus factor was all squared away". This co-worker is a very active Christian and so is the MD in question. I asked her what that meant and she said that she liked to make sure where people were going when they die. She said that that was one reason why she wanted to do home health and hospice, was to help people find Jesus before they die.

She is an awesome, awesome nurse, but I was always thought that this is not ethical. I would never discuss religion with a patient unless they wanted to and I don't think it's correct to try to convert them. She's basically going to be evangelizing her Home Health patients. I find that disturbing.

Specializes in NICU, Infection Control.

What if her pt replied, "if you really want to help me, pray the rosary w/me?", or to stand w/him/her while a rabbi prayed?

The point, imho, is to support the PATIENT's spiritual beliefs, not the nurse's. The pt might believe the nurse won't take care of his/her physical needs (including pain meds) if they do not profess to be "saved". Whether or not that's true, it's conceivable that the pt might think it.

It should be about the pt, not about the nurse. Pray on your own time; if you cannot pray w/me in my way.

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Specializes in ER.
In her belief system I think there's no way around this, the patient will go immediately to hell without some sort of acceptance of Jesus as savior.

I find it hard to respect someone who cannot understand that there are many belief systems, and no assurance that hers is THE ONE. Everyone tries to pick what makes sense to them, but the truth is that we are all possibly wrong. To not understand that shows a certain arrogance that can bleed into other parts of her life.

I assume that patients in my care are growing spiritually as best they can, and I am there to support and encourage them. I would not want to be treated by someone that wasn't willing to let me find my own way. The journey through spiritual change is as important as the final destination.

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I have never understood why it is such a federal case when a Christian ( or other religion) wants to talk about Jesus. He's obviously important to this woman. I mean no one would get bent out of shape if she believed yoga would make someone's life better and told all her patients how they could start a yoga regimine, or if she was an avid environmentalist and encouraged her pts to go to an Earth day rally. As long as she has her pts permission to talk to them about Jesus, what's the big deal?

My brother was agnostic. My parents and I are Christian. A close friend of the family was a devout Catholic. On the day my brother died the friend asked for permission to have a priest come and baptize Bro. My mom said No, to respect Bro's beliefs. The friend looked at my mom and said very loudly "But if he's not baptized he won't go to Heaven!!"

I understand that this is his belief, but that is not the thing to say to a woman whose son is about to be pronounced. I'm afraid this nurse will be doing the same thing this friend did: telling dying clients that they need to find Jesus or they will not have Eternal Life. This is not the stuff a dying person needs to hear. How do we know she will stop if the pt doesn't want to talk about it? People whose purpose in life is to help others find God and Jesus often don't honor boundaries.

This nurse would not last long at my agency.

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Specializes in ER.

Flamers start your engines;

I'd rather go to hell under my own power than be brainwashed into heaven.

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I agree with you, Canoe. I am Christian, but people have to gain that belief willingly. To beat it into someone's head at a vulnerable time is not acceptable.

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Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.

Not every Christian believes that God cannot save people who hold other beliefs. Most Christians believe that Jesus saves people other than Born Again Christians. I read a poll that said 15% of Americans believe you go to Hell if you don't accept Jesus as your personal savior. That means most people think God is more compassionate than that.

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So many born again Christians spout out that we should all have a 'personal relationship' with Jesus. Yet, they feel it's their right to judge whether or not one's PERSONAL relationship with G-d is the 'right' relationship. :nono: It would serve such people to tend to their own gardens and leave me to mine.......

Here's a question: What if any of these 'born again' people were on their deathbeds and a Muslim took advantage of that to preach their brand of he!! and damnation? Really, there is no difference here. Believe what you like and live a life that reflects that. But don't abuse your position of authority as a medical expert by trying to coerce others to believe as you do.

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i can't believe that so many nurses believe that their patients are weak amd unable to make a decision for themselves

if i were in a hospital bed and someone came in with the wrong meds or discussing something i felt inappropriate i would certainly speak up

op does not know what will be going on in the hospice situation, the nurse may be feel that by working in this enviorment she is there if a patient want to talk and that she has no intention of adding extra stress in an already difficult situation

i believe that she is too quick to judge fellow worker

[by the way, is there any church that believes that baptism of a deceased per will save their soul...i think that tazzi got a hold of a loony toon]

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Specializes in Case Mgmt; Mat/Child, Critical Care.

I never quite "got" what the big deal was when people were complaining about Christians...... When I was a child we attended church every Sunday, were very involved in our church, etc. BUT, we never, never, pushed our faith on anyone. So it wasn't til I was exposed to some very enthusiastic Christians of other faiths that I got it....and then of, course, there are all the evangilizing types on TV, that many have turned out to be big time scam artists...but I digress....:lol2:

Point is....I have been the object, actually, quite recently of Christians trying to convert me to their way of thinking. It is not enough that I have my own belief system, they want me to believe what they believe! :trout: Incredible. Most recently, w/in the last couple of weeks, a co-worker, another nurse, overheard me and my friend discussing spirituality and our beliefs of such. OMG, this woman launched into such a tirade about how we needed to be saved, we were going to hell, blah blah blah....

To this day she continues....we have asked her to stop, told her we have our own beliefs, doesn't faze her...now she's bringing religious "sermon" like tapes and playing them every chance she gets. Clearly...just saying "I'm not interested..." does not always work! This is such a turn off and soooo wrong if it were a nurse-pt relationship!:nono:

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The way I read the OP, this isn't a nurse who just happened to have a patient initiated conversation about Jesus or religion in general. It is a nurse who "wants to make sure where people are going when they die." The nurse believes that patients won't get to heaven if they don't accept Jesus as their savior. It is her right to believe that. It is not her right to impose that belief on patients who are at their most vulnerable. It's an abuse of her position.

This nurse is clearly out of bounds. She is putting herself in the position of the Almighty, deciding if someone is "right' with God and seeming to know where that person is going to spend eternity. What if that pt. has a totally different faith system from her? What will she do with a Budhist pt.? Muslim? Atheist? I hate to think that the last thing a dying pt. has to endure is this idiot yammering at them that they have to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior...or else.

What she is doing is unethical. I hope someone stops her before she harms a pt.

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Specializes in Case Management, Home Health, UM.
I'd rather go to hell under my own power than be brainwashed into heaven.

Amen!

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i can't believe that so many nurses believe that their patients are weak amd unable to make a decision for themselves

if i were in a hospital bed and someone came in with the wrong meds or discussing something i felt inappropriate i would certainly speak up

op does not know what will be going on in the hospice situation, the nurse may be feel that by working in this enviorment she is there if a patient want to talk and that she has no intention of adding extra stress in an already difficult situation

i believe that she is too quick to judge fellow worker

[by the way, is there any church that believes that baptism of a deceased per will save their soul...i think that tazzi got a hold of a loony toon]

This is a true incident:

I was in the hospital and a "friendly visitor" from the chaplain's office came to my room. I didn't ask for the visit. This guy was w/c bound. He started "ministering" to me. I politely asked him to leave several times, but he would not go away. It was only after I picked up the phone and threatened to call security that he left. Imagine if I had been timid or too debilitated to speak up for myself.

Thinking back, it would have been pretty comical to see security escorting this w/c bound guy out of a pt room. I was a little disappointed he chickened out...that would have been awesome.

BTW, he was relieved of his volunteer duties.

Some people are fanatics.

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