Religion, culture and nursing

[raebabelvn]

Last night I was reading a thread about a Jehovah's Witness nurse. I found it fascinating! I read every single post. It got me thinking... what religions hinder full holistic nursing care? JW's have a thing against blood and blood products... do other religions have restrictions similar to that? I've always been interested in learning about other religions, and in lvn school we did a brief overview of it, but nothing in depth. Also, what religion are you? Are there certain procedures or practices in nursing and/or medicine that offend you or restrict the care you provide? Would you ever share your faith with your patients? Have you cared for patients of a religion that has restrictions? What about other cultures?

I myself am a Christian. I don't have any restrictions, but I have preferences. However, that wouldn't hinder patient care. I haven't taken care of a patient with religious restrictions just yet. And the only time I have talked about my faith with patients is if they initiate the conversation, and even then, I make sure I don't cross any boundary lines. I let them lead the conversation.

I'm curious and excited to learn more about this topic!

[Serenyd]

I am an agnostic leaning towards atheism. I grew up a in a church with cultish tendencies like JW and I can attest to the psychological damage such an organization can leave esp. on the minds of the young. I now believe that religious is a just a way of controlling people, as well as being misogynistic, focused on keeping women in their place. I know that many people will disagree and say that their religion is comforting and gives them the strength to go on when times are tough. Bravo. This doesn't help me any because I do not believe. It is difficult for me to taking care of patients who are religious because they want to talk about their faith with me. Some nurses even pray with their patients; I cannot. I just smile and nod. I hate being so fake but it seems wrong to say anything. I usually don't mention my beliefs around the other nurses because some of them give me a hard time about it. I know some of my friends and family would be upset and might avoid me if I said how I really felt. I fell discriminated against, not because of my religion, but because of the fact that I don't have one.

[CJMR]

I have been atheist my whole life. I have a hard time understanding religious beliefs and practices because they all sounds a bit wacky to me. However, I try my hardest and, of course, respect and tolerate a person's health preferences not matter what. It is their body & life and they are free to live & die as they please. I am their nurse and I am there to help them recover within their personal limits. I am not there to push my beliefs on them or judge them.

The only thing that makes me uncomfortable is when patients ask me to pray with them. If I can fake it by sitting quietly with them for a moment while looking down, I will for their peace of mind. If they ask me to pray for them I say, "I'll keep you in my thoughts." If a patient asks me directly about religion I tell them I prefer not to discuss religion or politics in my workplace. Most of the time they drop the topic...sometimes they won't. If they persist I usually ask them if they would like to talk to someone who can offer spiritual guidance. If so, I refer them to the hospital chaplain.

[GilaRRT]

I'm Pagan I'm all about holistic healing herbs oils and so on. I try to keep away from western medicine as much as i can. When I'm sick i see my holistic practitioner ( Dr Bombay) kidding but funny. Really my Dr Bombay is female.

I do also have a primary care doctor as well and both of them do talk when i have to take a medication or some sort of action. I do carry a DNR on my person's and my advance directives are very clear. No harsh pain medications if I'm in pain. If I get sick like ( Cancer ) or something else life threatening i will not look for options even if it was to save my life. There's a reason why i have it and it's life threatening. ( Meaning my time is almost up on this earth)

I try to keep chemicals out of my body. Now if i pass away don't put me in the ground. I don't not belong in a graveyard and i feel that if I'm in the ground my soul will be trapped for all time and i wont advance in to the next realm.

And speaking of realms this to me is a teaching realm we are suppose to learn lessons while we are here ( Emotions is the key this time ) and we have lived many lives before. So burn me like the pagan I am and scatter my ashes in the wind so i will will be free. This is what i believe. These are my thoughts use them as you wish..

No disrespect, but I want to try to appreciate your mental frame of reference. You say you do not want chemicals in your body, but anything consisting of atoms will by definition be a chemical. The water we drink to the air we breath is a chemical. An antibiotic is as much a chemical as a molecule of water. Where exactly is the cut off for good chemical versus bad chemical. Honestly, everything that occurs within our body is chemistry.

I appreciate you taking an opposing view...

[BluegrassRN]

No disrespect, but I want to try to appreciate your mental frame of reference. You say you do not want chemicals in your body, but anything consisting of atoms will by definition be a chemical. The water we drink to the air we breath is a chemical. An antibiotic is as much a chemical as a molecule of water. Where exactly is the cut off for good chemical versus bad chemical. Honestly, everything that occurs within our body is chemistry.

I appreciate you taking an opposing view...

I'm sure the poster is aware of atoms and molecules. Surely you could understand from the context of her post what she meant.

I'll grant you, it's an unusual view for someone in healthcare...but many of us provide care on a daily basis that we would not want for ourselves or our loved ones.

[BluegrassRN]

No disrespect intended KarmaWiseRaven...but this is utterly ridiculous!! I would be dead for 11 years had I thought this way. My boys would be without their Mother for 11 years. They are now 18 and 19. I am a fairly new nurse....graduated Dec. 08. I would not be in this wonderful line of work had I thought the way you do. I was because of my experiences that I became a nurse. I am a 3 time cancer survivor...yes....3 different cancers...all diagnosed w/in 3 years of eachother. I'm glad modern medicine and my wonderful positive attitude have given me these last 11 years and hopefully many, many more to come.

No disrespect intended? Really? Calling someone's personal beliefs "utterly ridiculous" constitutes disrespect, no matter what words you use to preface that statement.

She wasn't saying that her path was the right path for everyone; they're her personal beliefs for herself. I personally wouldn't choose them for myself, either; I'd fight like you did. But I wouldn't ridicule or harshly judge someone who refused treatment. We need all kinds of nurses in our profession; the diversity enriches us.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

What's wrong with calling someone's belief's utterly ridiculous, as long as we don't infringe on their rights to hold those beliefs?

I do think diversity in nursing enriches us and there's room for us all. I don't think telling patients their beliefs are ridiculous is in any way shape or form apropriate.

However, this is a discussion board and frankly, there's a lot of beliefs that I feel are utterly rediculous....such as a talking snake, living inside a whale and being spit out, rising from the dead and saving the world, things of that nature. Why is it disrespectful for me to say so? Isn't it reverse disrespect to shoot me and my beliefs down?

I will acknowledge that it's probably better to say "I don't feel that way", rather than say what we really mean.

Again, I'm talking in the context of a discussion board, not direct patient care or work interactions.

[BluegrassRN]

I think using the words "utterly ridiculous" in reference to someone's beliefs is inflammatory and does not contribute positively in any way, shape, and form to a discussion. I don't think environment matters; if it's rude in a face-to-face discussion, it's rude on the internet. If the intent of the forum is simply to be rude buffoons who try to one-up each other in witty and unhelpful comments, fine, it's appropriate. If the intent of the forum is to create an environment conducive to discussing different situations and view points, then no, it's not appropriate.

No disrespect intended, but you are a complete idiot.

How would that phrase NOT be disrespectful? Writing the phrase "no disrespect intended" prior to writing something rude does not somehow lessen the rudeness.

A more appropriate use of the phrase could be "No disrespect intended, but I cannot agree with your belief system. I want to live, and in fact have fought cancer, 3 times, using standard chemotherapy. If I wouldn't have used the chemo, I would have left two young children motherless. "

Anyhow, I was just irritated by the idea that 1) If you use the phrase "no disrespect intended" you can say whatever rude, mean, or inappropriate thing you want to say and have it somehow be okay, and 2) it's okay to call someone's religious beliefs "utterly ridiculous", particularly when the pagan poster gave NO impression that she believed that everyone else should believe that too, or that she looked down upon those who did not follow her religion.

I guess it depends upon the intent. Do you really want to have a discussion, or do you just want to tell others what you think? Do you want to have some back and forth, or do you just want others to acknowledge your opinions as the only correct opinions? Is this a discussion board or a forum where anything goes?

[GilaRRT]

I'm sure the poster is aware of atoms and molecules. Surely you could understand from the context of her post what she meant.

I'll grant you, it's an unusual view for someone in healthcare...but many of us provide care on a daily basis that we would not want for ourselves or our loved ones.

No, I do not understand the context of said post. If I did, I would not have asked for clarification. The binding energy of an electron in it's ground state (n=1) for a hydrogen atom is -13.6 electron volts. This does not change from nature to a lab. Therefore, I wish to know what mental frame of reference exists when somebody uses a vague term such as "I don't want chemicals in my body." Clearly, this is rather non-discrete and vague, thus I stand by my prior post.

[BluegrassRN]

You can't get from the context of her post that she's referring to synthetic agents such as allopathic medications? Really?

[GilaRRT]

You can't get from the context of her post that she's referring to synthetic agents such as allopathic medications? Really?

Yeah really. I can make "synthetic" water in a lab if I wanted. So, where do we draw the line?

[BluegrassRN]

I think you're trying to split hairs. I can't believe you don't understand the context of her statement. I'm done, though. Continue to proclaim your ignorance of her meaning all you want. Perhaps she'll return and enlighten you.

[GilaRRT]

I think you're trying to split hairs. I can't believe you don't understand the context of her statement. I'm done, though. Continue to proclaim your ignorance of her meaning all you want. Perhaps she'll return and enlighten you.

Perhaps the person in question will. Another example would be say norepinephrine. It's naturally created; however, we can make the same molecule, synthetically, in the lab and administer it as an "allopathic medication" This is not splitting hairs at all.

Edit: I'm not being argumentative, I want to know what the person in question is thinking. Is it anticancer agents with their side effects that's a problem, antibiotics, or any agent created in a lab period? If somebody does not want treatment, that is their decision; however, what is wrong in asking somebody on a public forum to define their rational and better define their stance?