Say a Little Prayer!

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I'm am a 3rd year student nurse in the UK, and currently I am on a community placement with the district nurses. I have watched from the beginning of the placement a patient slowly deteriorate, last night we were unsure if they would see the morning. When I got home i felt powerless. the only thing I thought I could do was to say a prayer for this patient and their family, I'm not normally religious, I mean I believe in God but....

Now I'm not naive, I know this patient is going to die so I prayed that it would be painless for them and that God could give their family the strength to deal with the coming days and the inevitable.

Now my question to everyone is:- by saying a prayer for this family was I overstepping any lines, no-one I worked with knows just you and I, but after i said my prayer i suddenly felt wrong like i had no right to have intervened!!! would really appreciate any feedback!!!

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Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.

I've told patients before that I would say a prayer for them -- I got a smile and a "thank you" in return.

What you choose to do in the privacy of your own life is your business, especially since you weren't wishing them harm. They may not believe in the same God / denomination / spirit that you do, but you're not cramming your religion down their throats, either.

I think it's sweet that you care enough about your patients to include them in your prayers on your own time. As for "intervening" in their life, you still only truly intervened on your own behalf -- God knows that it was tick89 that was praying for relief for . If instead prays to have a pain-filled, long and torturous death, then God can choose which prayer he wants to give the most importance.

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YOu said this prayer in your home. Of course you did nothing wrong. Perfectly acceptable.

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