Religion's Place in Nursing

[CHIRN]

I often read Billy Graham's column and thought today's was particulary pertinent to our profession. I'm just curious as to your own personal thoughts and feelings on the matter. (Please, no screaming at one another...this is not a debate.)

Dear Dr. Graham,

I'd like to be a Christian, but I have a hard time believing that Jesus rose from the dead. You see, I'm an intensive care nurse, and I know that once a person dies, that's the end. Maybe you can help me get past these doubts. -- Mrs. K.W.

Dear Mrs. K.W.:

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the most important event in all history -- and yes, incredible as it may seem, it really did happen.

In fact, it might interest you to know that one of the Gospels was written by a medical doctor (Luke). Like you, he knew that death is final and irreversible -- and yet he also gave us one of the most extensive accounts of Jesus' resurrection from the dead. Why? Because he had thoroughly investigated the evidence for Jesus' resurrection for himself and he knew only one conclusion was possible: Jesus had come back from the dead.

Why is the resurrection important? Why did God raise Jesus from the dead? One reason was to prove that Jesus was who He said He was: the divine Son of God, sent from heaven to save us from our sins. The Bible says that He "was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 1:4). The resurrection sets Jesus apart from every other person who has ever lived.

But the resurrection points to an even greater truth: Death has now been conquered! The grave is not the end, but heaven's doors are now open! Jesus is alive, and He wants to come into your life today. Why not discover this great truth for yourself by turning to Christ today?

Edited to remove the dead link that stretched things past the edge of the screen - hope it makes it easier to read :)! - Ratched

[shel_wny]

Shel,

I think 2 differant posts were put together. Which is a shame because I think one seemed to be headed in a differant direction. More civil.

Hmmm...was it an accident or did some Admin just decide to smack them together?

Shel

[shel_wny]

Funny how you use archeology as proof of something, yet dismiss the other archeological evidence that disputes your claims.

Typical creationism pseudo-science...

*dons meanie cap*

Now now...you aren't playing by the rules!

No criticizing other people's religion in this thread.

Perhaps there is another thread for that.

This is simply about religion's place in nursing, if any.

Thanks!

Shel

[caroladybelle, BSN, RN]

Silly question, I'm sure...but why do ya leave the "o" out of God?

Just curious. I've never seen that before but I've seen it here at allnurses.com quite a bit!

Shel

In my case, it is because I am Jewish. While there are religious reasons for it, for many of us, it is a traditional thing.

The others that do the same, but I do not know if theirs are for the same reasons or not.

[shel_wny]

In my case, it is because I am Jewish. While there are religious reasons for it, for many of us, it is a traditional thing.

The others that do the same, but I do not know if theirs are for the same reasons or not.

Wow, I never thought of that. I really should invest in a religion course or a good book. I feel so inadequate when it comes to knowledge like that. Thanks for the explanation. Much appreciated. :)

Shel

[Kyriaka]

Shel,

O is left out of G--d because it is a holy name and should not be used irreverantly. This is common in Conservative & Orthodox Judiasm and also some Orthodox Christians.

:)

Does that help?

[Kyriaka]

Shel,

Sometimes people have attacked me for saying Xmas saying that I am X'ing out Christs name. But it is only in their ignorance of Greek. In Greek, Christos is reverently abbrv. with an X.

Just another tidbit of info. Perhaps for your time on Jepardy one day!!

[shel_wny]

Shel,

Sometimes people have attacked me for saying Xmas saying that I am X'ing out Christs name. But it is only in their ignorance of Greek. In Greek, Christos is reverently abbrv. with an X.

Just another tidbit of info. Perhaps for your time on Jepardy one day!!

Completely fascinating. Again I feel about this small. *presses thumb and index finger together*

Thanks for the enlightening! If I ever do play Jeopardy and win any money I definitely will owe you a cut.

Shel

[psychomachia]

*dons meanie cap*

Now now...you aren't playing by the rules!

No criticizing other people's religion in this thread.

Perhaps there is another thread for that.

This is simply about religion's place in nursing, if any.

Thanks!

Shel

When creationists start "playing" by the rules of science, then I'll be happy to give them more respect. The comment was directed toward the "scientific" evidence that is presented by creationists, not about someone's religion.

Archeological evidence of cultures that existed long before Christianity, dinosaurs, evolution, and LACK of evidence for many of the bible's claims (world wide flood, the earth's age, etc) is dismissed by creationists while they attempt to "prove" the bible's accuracy using "archeological" evidence.

Isn't the contradiction obvious??

Yes, this is a "religious" thread, but I think if you go back and read all the posts you'll see that the issue of belief and non-belief has been a main focal point. The points made by creationists have been presented by Jaaaman and others, and if you understand the difference you'll know that creationism is NOT a religion, but simply the attempt to legitimize the study of bible/Christian beliefs as a branch of science.

Unfortunately, creationists tend to perform their science backwards. They already have the answers in the bible and simply look for any "evidence" that seems to fit their belief rather than performing true research and then formulating a conclusion that isn't preconceived.

[shel_wny]

When creationists start "playing" by the rules of science, then I'll be happy to give them more respect. The comment was directed toward the "scientific" evidence that is presented by creationists, not about someone's religion.

Archeological evidence of cultures that existed long before Christianity, dinosaurs, evolution, and LACK of evidence for many of the bible's claims (world wide flood, the earth's age, etc) is dismissed by creationists while they attempt to "prove" the bible's accuracy using "archeological" evidence.

Isn't the contradiction obvious??

Yes, this is a "religious" thread, but I think if you go back and read all the posts you'll see that the issue of belief and non-belief has been a main focal point. The points made by creationists have been presented by Jaaaman and others, and if you understand the difference you'll know that creationism is NOT a religion, but simply the attempt to legitimize the study of bible/Christian beliefs as a branch of science.

Unfortunately, creationists tend to perform their science backwards. They already have the answers in the bible and simply look for any "evidence" that seems to fit their belief rather than performing true research and then formulating a conclusion that isn't preconceived.

Going back and reading the posts doesn't help one bit now that my thread got merged with some other one on a totally different topic.

Kind of makes me mad that happened. Ruined the whole discussion. Grrr.

Shel

[moia]

I thought the question was religion and nursing....seems we have wandered off into the forest here.

The ONLY religion that matters in nursing is the belief of the patient...our beliefs should NEVER be revealed as they are not important...the focus of our care is the patient...if they are deeply invested in spiritual beliefs our obligation is to support their beliefs as effectively as we can.

NO ONE cares what religion the nurse is as the nurses religious beliefs are IRRELEVANT to the actual practice of nursing....the focus is the PATIENT...if they worship shrubbery then we need to find them a druid priest because thats PATIENT FOCUSED CARE....we aren't at the bedside to practice nursefocused care so my best advice is to keep your lip tightly zipped when religion is asked though I do admit that in the south the patients will ask almost aggressively "are you saved?"...I do admit I did say more than once "saved from what?" I then told them I was a druid if they got really nosy.

Revealing your religion can hurt a patient..I have seen some whacked out nurses loudly praying over some freaked out patients...they quickly were relieved of their position thank goodness but still the damage was done..born agains harassing catholics...jews harassing christians...no thank you...

There is nothing wrong with using your personal faith to get you throught the day...just make sure you keep it personal and if you are religious you need to take extra care to not step on the toes of your patients who don't believe what you believe....no remarks about not getting into heaven etc..yes I heard this one told to a dying patient by the aforementioned nutcase.. that one got her the boot.

In the patient nurse relationship the goal is to meet the needs of the patient...your own spiritual needs are your job...do it on your own time.

Respect your patients right to believe whatever they believe..you are not required to offer an opinion about it.

If you were my patient and you were in need of spiritual help I would ask YOU what you believed and how best I could help you fulfill that need...a patient expressing spiritual pain is NOT an invitation to proselytize...your God isn't theirs.

The importance of religion is a question better directed to the patients we care for..it should be included in every nursing assessment we do so we will know what to do when the patient needs spiritual help.

It would also be nice if nurses could respect other nurses beliefs too but this problem shouldn't be a real issue because any smart adult knows discussing politics, religion or sex is inappropriate in a workplace setting...RIGHT?

I have seen fights over who should have won Survivor..I don't think we are grown up enough to discuss mush more than the weather as we are really a group of strangers working together.

[GEO]

It is my belief that a higher power is what ever "title" one chooses to call their Creator. He comes in many forms, in many hearts. Structured religion is what causes WARS........every structured religion believes theirselves to be "RIGHT" & the "CHOSEN". As a nurse I find it personally impossible to not believe that there is a Lord in the Heavens. And I feel it is my responsiblity to respect whatever beliefs the human being next to me holds. Truth, Goodness, Kindness, Caring about what is happening to one another--no matter what they believe, no matter what their life style is.... that is the test. The living, day to day test we all need to pursue. Call it whatever one wants to........It is a Great Sprit no matter what the name. That is who the peace and spiritual joy unfolds from. Structured religions and the TOTAL belief that one is right and one is wrong.....does not leave some of us with anything important...I don't have to dominate anyone to love, and live and rejoyce in my Creator. The human next to me does not have to think as i do to be as right as I am......they just have to think and do... ..my 2 cents.

[ChrisA]

Faith, of course, is intensely personal. It's not something you can gain by reason, and it's not something you can force on people by trying to pile arguments onto them. It's not something that comes to all people, and that's fine.

Also, in defense of psychomachia, faith also isn't science. Faith can't be science. Science, of course, is measurable, repeatable and disprovable description of physical properties. As soon as we try to confuse science and faith, both get weakened.