religion in the workplace

[elrondaragorn]

There was a ghost story thread about posessed people dying and taunting the nurses after begging them not to let them die. It inspired the question: How many of you are religious, and do you ever offer to pray for or with a patient whose frightened of dying?

[casi, ASN, RN]

elrondaragorn said:

Let me get this straight-if someone was standing over you praying that Pluto would come and take you to the underworld with him, you wouldn't have a problem with that?

Depends on how much pain I was in and how much I wanted to die. It would be no different then someone praying over me that God take me into his arms and relieve me from my pain.

I personally don't believe there is a right or wrong religion. I also have a hard time believing in evil/demonic creatures/gods, so prayer to any higher/lower being with good intention in my name is fine with me and rather flattering. It shows that someone cares.

I can see how those that hold strong beliefs and believe that other religions are wrong/evil/etc. would be made uncomfortable by someone of a different religion offering to pray for them. People fear differences and those things that they don't understand.

I'm curious how hospitals meet the spiritual needs of someone who is of a non-Christian religion. I've always assumed that chaplains are specifically Christian. Are my assumptions wrong?

[jojotoo, RN]

multicollinarity said:

Just respond, "Have you all lost him again?!"

Sorry. I couldn't resist.

What other religions is it accepable to make fun of?

[jojotoo, RN]

sweetbeet said:

I do agree that I don't want to have group prayer, etc. before and after work. That is pretty personal for me. But as far as with a patient. Anything to help put them at ease.

I worked at a 7th Day Adventist hospital. We occasionally had the opportunity for VOLUNTARY participation in prayer at the beginning or the end of a shift. I enjoyed that.

[Multicollinearity, BSN, RN]

jojotoo said:

What other religions is it accepable to make fun of?

If you will look at the context in which this comment was made, you will see that this statement was not a general statement towards everyone of the Christian religion. It was a directed statement towards specific obnoxious proselytizers. The poster stated she was having a problem with strangers in the grocery store even, asking if she has found Jesus. I was referring to rude and boundary-lacking conduct by a small subset within Christianity.

It is a statement I have only used once in real life, and I would use it again, if I needed to get someone who lacks boundaries out of my face.

[Indy, LPN, LVN]

"Have you all lost him again" was hilarious... my poor keyboard!

Seriously, I would have thought that being smack in the bible belt would land me a lot of interesting situations regarding religion, especially at work. Well nope. I had one patient's daughter ask me if I was a christian, which I politely declined. She was puzzled and voiced that she thought someone so sweet must surely be a christian. I thanked her for the compliment and that was that. There was nothing offensive or rude in her behavior, in her way she was showing that she cared about me. I took it that way, anyhow.

Another lady spent part of her evening talking about her church and the different age Sunday school classes she used to teach. Somewhere in the chatter was a gracious invitation to come to her church. I told her I'd keep it in mind.

Some part of me has become more tolerant than it used to be when I was younger. I think my developing self got the words religion and career mixed up somewhere because I spent an awful lot of time trying to figure out what religion I would be when I grew up, but I always knew I should be a nurse.

[CHATSDALE]

Jojotoo, I know what you mean about the politically correct making fun of

Christianity but if someone asked a muslin woman why she was wearing a 'rag' on her head it would be considered insulting [not saying it would not be insulting but respect should not be doled out according to your own prejudices]

Trying to explain faith to someone who compares god to the tooth fairy is like trying to explain plaid to a blind person

[LPNJessi]

I have had quite a few opportunities to "be there" spiritually for my patients. The majority of the patients at my work are the same religion as I am and so I know what things would be of comfort to them. I had one patient that had a very hard night and we talked for over an hour and she ened up coding in the am just as I was getting ready to give report. She came back to my work a few weeks later and she told me how greatful she was for me talking to her and how much it meant to her and that she was glad I took the time to be with her. I had another patient that knew she was dying and asked me about my beliefs. It ended up being a very spiritual experience and until she died she referred to me as the nurse that opened her heart and helped her thru a very hard time.

I don't go around and pressure anyone to believe what I believe. I also have had others of different religions include me in the prayers and I felt very honored by them welcoming me. I personally don't think it really matters what religion you are as long as you are the best you that you can be and don't pressure others with your beliefs.

[queenjean]

CHATSDALE said:

trying to explain faith to someone who compares God to the toothfairy is like trying to explain plaid to a blind person

Aww, come on, dale, tell us what you *really* think of us.

I did not realize that faith was a characteristic exclusive to believers in God.

[Roy Fokker, BSN, RN]

I work in a Mennonite institution.

My name badge carries our motto - and includes the declaration that all staff work in accordance of the principles of "our Judeo-Christian" heritage.

I am neither Jewish. Nor Christian.

I have often had to face situations where my patient has asked me "Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?" and I have always responded by stating that I prefer not to answer that question.

Most of my patients respected that boundary and dropped the subject.

Some of them became rather offended.

One patient refused to have me as her nurse after that point.

I understand the frustration some members (especially the non-believers) have expressed at being subject to proselytization. It is an invasion of my personal, private space to be subject to it without an invitation on my part. On average, I am approached about 4-6 times a year.

I personally do not believe in god and reject the notion and concept of such an entity.

However, I also live by Thomas Jefferson's principles on the matter:

Thomas Jefferson said:

But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.

I was raised in a very religious household.

Both my parents are very devout, pious folks - deeply saddened by my personal lack of "belief".

Be that as it may - knowing my parents allows me to appreciate the fact that good people can be both believers or unbelievers. Religion and belief in a god or gods has had positive influence on people as well as negative.

I always make it a point of asking my patients if there is anything I can do for them to fulfill their spiritual needs. I may not be able to fulfill them personally (and I have refused to do it twice) - but I make it a priority to get spiritual support to those in need (It helps that the chaplains in my hospital carry 24/7 pagers!)

I've enjoyed reading much of this thread.

Please let us not turn it into an "us" vs "them" - it is my humble request.

[elrondaragorn]

If some doctors recommend surgery out of greed when there is no need for it, are you going to say all doctors are bad? No! Religion is often blamed for the evil in the world because too many people abuse religion as an excuse to do evil, but religion is not the root of all evil. Look at Church History, an honest look at the lives of the saints and people in the modern world who sincerely believe and practice what they say they believe like Mother Theresa of Calcutta, St. Francis of Assissi, John Paul II, and so forth should give you a more balanced perspective. If the only information you get about religion is what you hear on the nightly news where anti-religious newscasters (and I'm a journalism graduate of Boston University, so I know what I'm talking about), are always painting the darkest picture immaginable by slanting the news, showing only the mistakes made by people in the past and present who claimed to believe, or did believe, but nevertheless sinned, I don't wonder why you think religion is the root of all evil, but it simply is not true. It would be more correct to say that evil people exploit religion as an excuse for their evil deeds.

coral0033 said:

I certainly do not want to see Religion in the work place. Today it seems as though "Religion" is the root of all evil. If called upon to praywith a patient, i will do so; but surely I WOULD NOTLIKE TO SEE PRAYERS BEFORE AND AFTER WORK

[elrondaragorn]

A patient who takes their beliefs seriously will care whether you think they will care or not.

CRNI-ICU20 said:

I don't think a patient who is scared, or hurting, or facing a big surgery gives a tinker's darn whether you are a Buddhist, a monk, an animist, or someone who worships chicken feathers and crystals....I think they care about having a HUMAN BEING at their bedside that is connecting and engaging in their crisis.....it isn't about religion....that's just what usually divides us....it's about loving another human being ....which is what unites us.

Pretty simple.

[elrondaragorn]

It is presumptuous to say that you understand reality sufficiently enough to rule out the possibility of malevolent beings, and it is possibvle to know that there are right and wrong beliefs, whether you think there is a right or wrong belief or not, but that is a discussion for a philosophy thread. If you're interested I'll start one.

casi said:

Depends on how much pain I was in and how much I wanted to die. It would be no different then someone praying over me that God take me into his arms and relieve me from my pain.

I personally don't believe there is a right or wrong religion. I also have a hard time believing in evil/demonic creatures/gods, so prayer to any higher/lower being with good intention in my name is fine with me and rather flattering. It shows that someone cares.

I can see how those that hold strong beliefs and believe that other religions are wrong/evil/etc. would be made uncomfortable by someone of a different religion offering to pray for them. People fear differences and those things that they don't understand.

I'm curious how hospitals meet the spiritual needs of someone who is of a non-Christian religion. I've always assumed that chaplains are specifically Christian. Are my assumptions wrong?