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

[nursemeow]

Thanks, Stevie!!!!!

Woh..ok back to the topic @ hand. "Reilgion" in nursing. Whatever faith we have will leak into the workplace, sure. Especially since as nurses we are right there witnessing what may be the deepest struggle families/people journey. Me, I'm not half as complicated as others. The God/Power I believe in would never punish me eternally :angryfire or have my soul suffer a painful infinate afterlife because I AM A "NONBELIEVER".... sounds like some of ya'll are worshiping the wrong dude. :chuckle (Sorry, had to get my crack in there, geez I've been called "ignorent" 10 times for my belief on this thread thank you very much) aanyway, your "truth" has been interpreted from paper.. mine is in my heart, soul, and enviroment. As for the duty some of you feel to warn us about bla bla..um we will pass.. this is a neverending topic for a reason. Nobody, yes NOBODY knows 100% so if ya think ya do, hey more power to ya..but as for nursing and MY faith, well Nightengale's testimony sort of hits the nail on the head with how I swear to practice. My faith just gets me thru the day. I will pray with my patients or do anything in my heart and of course legal scope that I can do and I will do it with integrity. It's quite simple. Karma. What goes around comes around. I will use my faith to give me strength to become the absolute potential I can be in my life and hopefully that will radiate to others around me in the most positive way. And I'll have fun doing so, resting peacefully not worrying about the afterlife. CAN I GET AN AMEN!

[BayMae10]

Ok two things my mommy told me never to talk about, religion and poliltics, and guess what i am doing.....

Some of the statements by people on here have bothered me, i am and stronge believe. religion has guided my life many times. and whether it is in my head or not is no ones buiness by my own.

as it affects my life in nursing, i work in a very busy ed. and we have looks of bad accidents, its a vacation community, and i look to God, Yes God, at times to guide though my day and help me thank him for the safty and life of my family. that is my choice and i dont need to justify that to anyone. if someone asks me to pray with them, and it has happened, then and ONLY them do i allow my faith to become part of job!

whatever you believe is fine thats your choice but the people on here that state their belifes some of you have not right to bash on them. we all can have some ot none in our life and thats cool with me. just resect me for having mine and if you can do that, then whos igonorent now!

sorry i was a little nasty but this is one thing that i feel a little strong about, hope we're still friends in the morning....LOL

[teeituptom, BSN, RN]

Don't worry Carol . . . I'd never say that to you. And I'm a wacko born-again Christian. :)

steph :kiss

and Im a wacko born again Golfing Christian

the everlasting church of the Eternal Green

I keep praying over those 40 foot birdie and eagle putts

[Kyriaka]

Bay,

My mommy always told me that you dont talk money, politics, religion, or sex in polite society...ah..the southern belle ness shows!

[1BlessedRN]

I have to add to this thread, because it has gotten into a debate, non-believers I am not going to bash you because you are doing only what you are suppose to because you are non-believers, my fellow Christians, you have done what is asked of you, you have spoken on what you believe, so now stand on it and let it go, " If I be lifted up from the earth, will draw ALL men unto Me" John 12:32, I believe Jesus died and rose again, I believe in the Trinity, I believe that oneday I'm gonna leave this world of heartache and pain, and go to a place of no more dying, suffering, and gain PEACE, maybe I'll be persecuted here for believing in Christ Jesus, but that's only for a season, I also did learn alot of how (WE Christians) act is based on how we help people to Christ, we have to stop bashing people for how they believe and show love, humbleness, all the fruits of the Spirit as Jesus did to one another, then will we as Christians have more people come to Christ, sure everyone is gonna backslide we are only human but let's help pick each other back up and put our brother or sister on the right trail and stop all this persecuting each other. LOVE is the greatest gift of all. And everyone is not going to be SAVED, keep in mind to lean not to OUR OWN understanding Proverbs 3:5-6 for those that have a desire to know Christ *1st Pray and ask for His guidance, then get you a reference bible and search the scriptures daily, read the entirety book of John in the New Testament, He will lead you to a Christian(s) to help you better understand His Word, and finally never go to any sanctuary, church, etc. putting your hopes and trust in man, go with your focus on the Lord and Him only for His ways and thoughts are not ours. I hope I have said something to help someone, as for anyone touching this post negatively, you are only doing what you know how. I go in peace.:)

a soft answer turns away wrath

[movealong]

You can quote the bible to support almost anything and any view, so I turn off those that quote it to try to bolster their views. Even Ophrah says so! LOL.

My personal opinion is that if you are believer, well OK. That's fine. Whether I believe or not, is frankly, nobody's business but mine. But I dislike being preached to. One's faith ought to be a private matter, IMHO.

This isn't negative. It's just a different view.

[Nelly, FNP]

"Kinda sounds like my own personal religion that I have here at home! LOL! Seriously, it resembles sort of what I think. I refuse to follow any one church because none of them really follow the ideas I have."

***I understand your frustration as it is difficult to find a church that sticks to the true word of God, however, I encourage you to keep looking. ***

"For instance, I support gays in every way....I think God made us all and loves us all. I also question the idea of a trinity (The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost). BUT, I do believe in the rapture and of Jesus dying for our sins. "

***CNM2B: Yes, God did create us all and loves us all but what we must understand is that God hates SIN not the people committing the sin. My question to you is this, if you believe in the rapture, who do you think God is going to rapture up? All people? Certainly not. The bible is very clear about who will and will not make it into heaven but people tend to isolate gays and fornicators as if those sins are larger the others. God requires that his followers present themselves as living sacrifices according the commandments and guidelines he laid out (which when you think about it are beneficial to us anyways.) I mean, really, what's so wrong with abstaining from sex until marriage, remaining faithful to your spouse, loving your neighbor, praying for the sick, visiting those in jail, just to name a few.****

Also, for the atheists and agnostics on this post: Im curious to know what you think about the current state of this world? Do you think that the earthquakes, famine, pestilence, wars, personal and spiritual apostasy, and prevalence of murders within families (children killing parents and vice versa) is just a coincidence? I mean has anyone noticed how this world is going downhill? For those who aren't familiar with Revelations, it is the last book of the bible which basically lays out the events that will occur at the end of the world before the return of Jesus. One scrpture says "And when you see these events know that my coming is nigh."

" I may try to find an organized church again at some point, because I DO really want to be baptized, but for now, I'm not ready to throw myself to the wolves again just yet."

***Again, CNM2B, I encourage you to keep looking. Although there are some pastors who have fallen away from biblical teaching, true churches still exist. Be persistent. I encourage you to continue reading your bible and remain prayerful and know that God will direct your path. Having the desire to be baptized is excellent, please do not give up your search. The next breath is not promised so its important to make baptism a top priority in your life. The bible says "Repent and be baptized, every one of you for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." If interested please read the book of John Chapter 3 (you can go to Biblegateway.com for instant access) where Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, You must be born again. The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." ****

I don't mean to preach but Im very passionate about this subject. What I have said above is for people who have open ears and hearts to receiving this. Just as other posters have said you can only believe this by faith which as humans can be so difficult because we are beings who operate through our senses. We always need proof or scientific evidence before we can trust but just as someone else said, noone knows anything for sure, either you put your faith in God or in a scientist/theorist/philospher etc. I am not trying to bash anyone, please understand. Just food for thought.

[Nelly, FNP]

Caroladybelle: In response to your statement "there is no need to be a Christian to ensure a happy after-life" Im just wondering how you came to that conclusion?

[ChrisA]

Caroladybelle: In response to your statement "there is no need to be a Christian to ensure a happy after-life" Im just wondering how you came to that conclusion?

Yeah, and the flip-side, how can you be sure of a happy after-life if you *are* a Christian. Look how many types of Christian churches there are. They can't all be right, can they? Especially with as much venom and "we're right they're wrong" I hear.

[FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I]

for the record... cults scare me.

me too!!

don't ya think we're getting a bit sidetracked again? remember???

religious beliefs in nursing, and how the nurse relates to the patient concerning his/her religious belief!!

i thought this was what we were supposed to talk about.

not all that extraneous stuff: you know, ("my)beliefs are better than yours,"

("you're)going to go to hell," (i'm)an athiest," ("i'm)jewish. i believe the laws of moses," ("mine) is the only true belief, etc, etc.

do ya see it?? these arguements are all about me, my, mine, and your. there"s nothing about any of this type of statement that relates to the patient & his/her religious background.

if i remember correctly, when we were in nursing school, we were taught to as nurses, relate to and provide their essentials, be it food, and/or the practices of their beliefs in their everyday life, that relate to the hospital environment.

i will now get off of my soapbox you all have a good evning.

[Nelly, FNP]

Excellent duckboy20!!!! I absolutely agree with you.

I feel a lot of negative postings will come about the above message but oh well.

I feel that if you believe in God and the Bible it is not intellectually sound to say there could not have been a resurrection. First of all, if you believe in God I am guessing that you would believe in Creationsism. To believe in that you would believe that God created this world and everything in it, including the people. Therefore what would limit him to being able to raise someone from the dead? Jesus' resurrection is not the only time someone was raised from the dead in the Bible so I guess those are false as well?

It is no use believing in God if you don't believe in the resurrection. If the resurrection did not happen then there is no way to salvation so you might as well believe there is not a god, or at least the biblical God, because the resurrection is the only way to salvation through him.

True the Bible has a lot of metaphors. The parables are a big example. I also believe that lots of writings in the Bible actually happened but are there for us to learn by and apply to our own life.

A person on a prior posting was talking about other writings during that time and why didn't they have as much validity or many Christians read those books and believe also what they say about what happened during that time period. I myself believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God, meaning he was speaking through the authors of it, and he chose what would encompass the Bible.

I don't know about the other books, I have no doubt they were written during that time and might be equally as valid. I believe though that the Bible is what God layed out for us to go by so that is why I find it necessary to follow it.

[Nelly, FNP]

I agree with you dlmickley. It is for the very reason that so many who might be interested in learning more will turn their back on religion. We are to approach one another in love, plant the seed and let God manisfest himself in their lives. I too am a firm believer in Christ and the resurrection, however, we cannot force anyone to believe.

I firmly feel as you do ....... God rose from the dead and is our salvation; but your words come across hateful and condeming, an attitude that turns people away rather than reaching them. Tolerance and prayer is what is needed here. I realize you may not mean it but you come across as someone who has no love or compassion for those that don't believe as you do. Use your passion for prayer rather than attack and Gods work and word will go much further.