Religion in the Room

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I'm a NS, and I've been wondering what role religion does or can play out in patient care.

Let me say first, that while I'm personally a big Jesus fan I DO NOT believe in pushing my beliefs on others. But my question is, if a patient were to ever ask their nurse to pray with them, for them, etc is this generally allowed?

Or is it mostly a frowned upon practice, or maybe more of a facility based decision?

Really interested in your thoughts on this.

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Specializes in Operating Room.

A good rule of thumb is to not bring up religion unless the patient does..even then you have to be careful with boundaries.

I think praying with a patient is fine as long as they initiate it.

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Even from my agnostic perspective, I'm well aware of the comfort that faith can bring to some patients. I think the previous responder had it just right -it's not our place to initiate talk of religion with our patients, but if they ask and you are comfortable with it, there is nothing wrong with sharing prayer or other expressions for faith with them.

Now a small funny: I'm a cardiac patient educator. We have a large evangelical church in the town where I live with several pastors. One of them came in with a heart attack and once he was stable I went to meet with him and his family. He was pretty overweight and I started to talk about diet and exercise with him, which he didn't want to hear and tried to deflect by asking me about my religious beliefs. I just held up a hand and said "Hold it - here, I'm the one who gets to preach, not you."

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I'm a NS, and I've been wondering what role religion does or can play out in patient care.

Let me say first, that while I'm personally a big Jesus fan I DO NOT believe in pushing my beliefs on others. But my question is, if a patient were to ever ask their nurse to pray with them, for them, etc is this generally allowed?

Or is it mostly a frowned upon practice, or maybe more of a facility based decision?

Really interested in your thoughts on this.

I think a lot of it may be regional. I know a nurse I worked with in Pa. that got in trouble for what was called "witnessing" at work. I think she asked the pt. what they believed in Spiritually, something we now cover in assessment.

I've spent all but 5 years of my career in the deep south and the CNA's sometimes will just go there and say "Honey you've just got to trust in Jesus, and it'll all be OK." The first couple of times I used to mentally slap my forehead and wait for the complaints...never came. I think most of us, especially those of other religions take it in stride. I'll never complain about anyone wishing me well, no matter what the language. I've been asked several times by frightened patients waiting for surgery or their family or newly diagnosed cancer if I believe in God, or what religion I am. That for me is the knock on the door. I'll ask what they believe in and get them talking. Usually they'll say something about the power of prayer and I'll validate there are a lot of studies out there about positive outcomes and prayer. At some point I will ask if they would like the chaplain to come see them or for me to call their priest. Some will ask if I would

say a prayer with them and I'm fine with that if they lead the prayer or if it's a silent prayer, cause to be honest, I do feel a little weird about it. I didn't grow up with grace at meals or holding hands and praying together.

I also have to tell you the baptism stories. NICU's often have a bottle of Holy Water in the south on the crash cart. I'm not sure but I think one baby got blessed and baptized 6 times in one day by different nurses! Apparently there are others like me who feel a little uncomfortable in being "out" in regards to spiritual beliefs! I think that was one lucky little baby who had so many nurses pulling for him.:heartbeat Sorry this is so lengthy, a yes or no would have sufficed:rolleyes:

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Thanks for the help guys. Chico that was funny. And smooth! :lol2:

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Nola, its kinda funny. I'm in the deep south too. Here I am wondering if praying w/ a patient (w/ their initiation) would hurt my license, and y'all are sporting holy water! :)

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I live in the south in an area where people upon meeting you will first ask, "what church do you go to?" and THEN ask, "what's your name?" I'm agnostic and I never lie to people when I'm flat out asked about what church I go to or something of that nature, but I don't ever bring up the topic of religion. Furthermore, if a patient says something like, "I just have to trust in God, isn't that right?" I just agree with a smile and a nod or a "that's right" because it's obviously what they believe in and want to hear. That being said, if I were a religious person, I would never initiate a comment about how "it's all in God's hands" or "it'll all be okay." That's called false reassurance. You don't know that it will all be okay and while you may be a Christian/muslim/fill in the blank you are also a medical professional who shouldn't give patients false hope. If a patient were to ask you to pray with them and you don't mind doing that, I don't see a problem with it. Even as someone who doesn't pray, I respect other people's beliefs so I will bow my head and/or close my eyes when others pray in my presence. Not doing so would draw unnecessary attention to myself IMO and while I feel strongly about my beliefs (or lack of) they are mine alone and I'm not here nor there to make them known to others. That being said, I seriously doubt that you will run into this problem very much if at all. If you were in a situation where someone grabbed your hand and asked you to pray with them, I think it would be best to just do it if you're comfortable. However, I don't think it's a good idea when patients start talking about God to start validating what they're saying or swapping stories of religious miracles. Acknowledge what they say and move on to the next topic. It should never get so deep that you have to question if it's "appropriate" and if it does, you need to suddenly find a reason to exit the room. just my two cents.

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Specializes in M/S, Travel Nursing, Pulmonary.

Just remember you are there to support the patient and you will be alright.

I've been asked to pray, and I do so, letting them lead the prayer. I simply stand there, respectfully, and allow my presence to add the the "collective conscience", much like one does when listening to the National Anthem at a ball game or something. Even if our religions are not twins, the patient often feels blessed/happy to join in on the action of prayer with you.

On the other hand, I don't get into discussions about religion. Even when talking to people of the same faith as myself, there is a high possibility of disagreement arising. If someone wants to "get somethign off their chest", I become the listener. I never insert my own interpretation. If they have issues/concerns that require more than listening, there are professionals for that who can help them. My facility uses the "spiritual consult" order for these situations.

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Specializes in ICU, Telemetry.

I've prayed with patients and their families, always when it's initiated by them, and I keep it generic. I'm Catholic in the rural south, and a lot of patients want to know a) who's my "people," b) what church do I go to, and c) how many "younguns" I have. I don't lie about where I go to church, but it can make me grit my teeth when people say, "oh, you're Catholic? I thought you were a Christian." And I did have one family member of a patient tell me I'd better not baptize their family member Catholic while I was bathing them. Seriously. Like that's what I'm thinking about while I'm packing a sacral decube the size of Arizona. I so, so wanted to tell them, "too late, I took him out to the parking lot and dunked him in a vat of holy water I keep in the back of the truck."

In all seriousness, we are both spirit and body, and sometimes the spirit can be in worse pain than the body. My goal is holistic healing, so that mind, body and spirit are all restored -- and the patient stays at home instead of coming back in 2 days.

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Specializes in Peds, Med-Surg, Disaster Nsg, Parish Nsg.

As a parish nurse, I get asked to pray with patients all the time. Spiritual care is a very important aspect of patient care. Spiritual care does not necessarily equate with religion.

You might find it interesting to read some of the discussion in another AN blog about this topic.

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

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Specializes in Psych.

If a patient or resident is in mental distress a and I see a bible or saint cards (I am not sure what they are called, they are pictures of saints with a bible passage on them). I will ask if their is a bible passage that helps them and either read it too them or have them read it and ask how it has helped them in the past and how it can help them now at that moment. Other then that I don't discuss it unless they bring it up.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
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I'm Catholic in the rural south, and a lot of patients want to know a) who's my "people," b) what church do I go to, and c) how many "younguns" I have. I don't lie about where I go to church, but it can make me grit my teeth when people say, "oh, you're Catholic? I thought you were a Christian." And I did have one family member of a patient tell me I'd better not baptize their family member Catholic while I was bathing them. Seriously. Like that's what I'm thinking about while I'm packing a sacral decube the size of Arizona. I so, so wanted to tell them, "too late, I took him out to the parking lot and dunked him in a vat of holy water I keep in the back of the truck."

:lol2:

You're Catholic and you live in the rural South? You are a braver woman than I....it's hard enough being Catholic in the largely-unchurched Pacific Northwest, where some people actually think the UU's are too strict! :coollook:

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