Shabbos/Religious Observances

Nurses General Nursing

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As I begin the applications process for nursing schools, I have one huuuuge concern - my religious obligations. I am not permitted to work/attend school, etc. from sunset Friday nights until an hour past sunset on Saturday nights because of the Jewish sabbath. I've heard that a lot of programs have 12hr clinicals on Saturdays...yikes! Has anyone "worked it out" with similar obligations?

Texasmommy - I'd be really interested if you could post a few guidelines on the forum concerning what the caregiver should know or be sensitive to when caring for Orthodox patients. It would be helpful for many of us.

A particular question that comes to mind from what I do understand - would restrictions of the Sabbath preclude use of the call system or a PCA pump (with the patient controlled dosing) during that time, or is that allowable related to the patient's condition?

This particular question would have to be posed to a competant Orthodox rabbi. I spent two Shabboses in the hospital when I gave birth to my daughter and my younger son, and I had my husband stay with me and notify the nurses' station personally so I wouldn't have to use the call system. As far as a PCA pump, it really depends on the situation. Check out www.askmoses.com for live 24/6 chat with orthodox rabbis - they can definitely give you plenty of insight! :) Hope that was helpful!

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This particular question would have to be posed to a competant Orthodox rabbi. I spent two Shabboses in the hospital when I gave birth to my daughter and my younger son, and I had my husband stay with me and notify the nurses' station personally so I wouldn't have to use the call system. As far as a PCA pump, it really depends on the situation. Check out www.askmoses.com for live 24/6 chat with orthodox rabbis - they can definitely give you plenty of insight! :) Hope that was helpful!

Once more for anyone who might miss interpret; I am just trying to understand. If you ever find you do not want to answer my questions please feel free not to answer. They are asked only to advance my understanding.

Were you not requiring your husband to work. It seems you could have save both of you work by pushing a button. OK I get it. Pushing a button is work in your religion. But it would seem to me that walking down to the nurses station to deliver a message that you needed help would also be work??! Help, me out if you will.

Again I am trying to understand from the lay believer's perspective. Thank you for the referral to moses.com. I will explore this.

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Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.
that's a very common misconception - many people assume the prohibition against pork, for example, had to do with avoiding [color=#0000cc]trichinosis. the laws of kashrus are more spiritual than physical. they too, are complex and observed at a multitude of levels with varying interpretations.

that's what my mother used to always tell me. she viewed old jewish laws as health laws and so she said that as long as you cooked the pork well it accomplished the same goal. she only made bacon once in awhile, or else it was just something we got at a restaurant, i don't know. she saw being jewish as her cultural identity, and that meant working hard, valueing education and learning, becoming successful, and not celebrating christmas. plus respecting parents, family values, instilling guilt in children if they didn't call often enough.

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Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.

One thing that was most important was the yearly Passover feast, but we never even observed the no leavened bread rule during that week. Chanukah was basically a substitute for Christmas.

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Eight pages of talking religion without a TOS violation? Can it be true???

Its Amazing.....One of the best discussions I have ever read here...

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Specializes in DOU.
that's a very common misconception - many people assume the prohibition against pork, for example, had to do with avoiding [color=#0000cc]trichinosis. the laws of kashrus are more spiritual than physical. they too, are complex and observed at a multitude of levels with varying interpretations.

yes, this is the way i learned it from my rabbi, too. any interpretation that connects to health concerns are merely speculation. no one knows for sure why the laws exist - only that they do.

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i recently had a home care pt who grew up observant, and i asked her about the taboos about having dairy and meat at the same meal. i didn't understand that one, i thought that dietary laws were based on the religion. she explained that they're health-related, and it made sense: dairy doesn't mix well in the stomach with a lot of things.

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Specializes in DOU.

Meaning no disrespect to any Jewish women of earlier generations, but many of the women of my mother's generation grew up with knowledge of how to do Jewish traditions, but not necessarily why they were done. (tradition!) They were expected to keep a Jewish home, but their husbands were more often the ones in the synagogue. Torah study was almost unheard of for women. Times have changed.

Another consideration is that in our secular society, especially in the post-Holocaust era where assimilation was a primary goal for many Jews, to give a religious answer to a question may not be as readily accepted as a "rational", scientific answer.

The prohibition against mixing meat and dairy is from the bible. It has to do with humane treatment of an animal, and nothing at all to do with health concerns. "You shall not boil a kid in it's mother's milk" - to cause a baby to die in the very substance of life (a mother's milk) would be barbaric.

Or something like that. :)

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Oh.......the pt told me that it was for gastric health......

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Specializes in OB.
This particular question would have to be posed to a competant Orthodox rabbi. I spent two Shabboses in the hospital when I gave birth to my daughter and my younger son, and I had my husband stay with me and notify the nurses' station personally so I wouldn't have to use the call system. As far as a PCA pump, it really depends on the situation. Check out www.askmoses.com for live 24/6 chat with orthodox rabbis - they can definitely give you plenty of insight! :) Hope that was helpful!

Thanks for taking the time to answer. I'll check out that website and keep in in mind if the situation arises.

I've worked with pts. of so many different backgrounds and beliefs that it is helpful to have some basics to avoid offending someone, and to understand why they behave in the way that they do.

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Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.
Oh.......the pt told me that it was for gastric health......

I've known people into food combining who say it's a very bad idea to mix dairy and meat. I personally think a lot of Jewish edicts were for the general health of the community. For instance, handwashing is a big thing, and by golly, modern science has proven that that it's a healthy practise! So, I agree with my mother.

It's the same with many moral laws. They a good for us. Totally resting one day a week is good for us. It's healthy. It's also better for us to get married once, and not have sex with other people. That's best for us, our children, and society in general. It's better for society if people don't lie and steal, and if they honor their parents. The 10 commandments are just good for everyone!

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Specializes in DOU.
I've known people into food combining who say it's a very bad idea to mix dairy and meat. I personally think a lot of Jewish edicts were for the general health of the community. For instance, handwashing is a big thing, and by golly, modern science has proven that that it's a healthy practise! So, I agree with my mother.

It's true that these are healthy practices, but if health were the primary consideration, why wouldn't the bible just simply say "wash your hands and don't eat pork because you will be healthier". :lol2:

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