Sharing faith at work

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Nov 24, 2014

Well, anyone can always pray with a patient, share spiritual beliefs, etc, AS LONG AS it's on the patient's terms and their wishes are respected. The only difference I can see in your setting is that you might be allowed to initiate such conversations....? Otherwise, it's all the same matter of "it's about them": respect, and allowing them to dictate the terms.

Good luck :)

nixonk86 · Nov 25, 2014

As an atheist I would be insulted if someone caring for me wanted to discuss religion or pray for me. When my dad was sick occasionally people (not health care professionals) would say they would 'pray for me/him and our family' and I found it quite offensive and would quickly tell them that neither of us would want that. I think religion has no place in health care other than respecting a patients beliefs, I would never presume to discuss religion with a patient unless they wished to tell me something that directly related to their care e.g. if they were Jehovahs Witness and didn't want a transfusion. I don't know if it's the same where you are form but here some of the hospitals are religiously based but that is no indication of the patients beliefs, just that the hospital was the closest one your surgeon operates in. Health care professions are evidence based in nature and I find this conflicts with all religions. I don't mean to disrespect anyone here but I'm sure some of your patients feel as I do and the atheist perspective should be considered and respected as well.

GrumpyRN, NP · Nov 25, 2014

As an atheist I would be insulted if someone caring for me wanted to discuss religion or pray for me. When my dad was sick occasionally people (not health care professionals) would say they would 'pray for me/him and our family' and I found it quite offensive and would quickly tell them that neither of us would want that. I think religion has no place in health care other than respecting a patients beliefs, I would never presume to discuss religion with a patient unless they wished to tell me something that directly related to their care e.g. if they were Jehovahs Witness and didn't want a transfusion. I don't know if it's the same where you are form but here some of the hospitals are religiously based but that is no indication of the patients beliefs, just that the hospital was the closest one your surgeon operates in. Health care professions are evidence based in nature and I find this conflicts with all religions. I don't mean to disrespect anyone here but I'm sure some of your patients feel as I do and the atheist perspective should be considered and respected as well.

Oh wow! I could have written that. Well said.

If anyone says they will pray for me I try to reply "and I will think for you".

To the OP, if your patients want it and your employer allows it and you have time to do it - go for it. You will do no great harm. On the other hand you will not actually do any good. If your patients/families feel that prayer is helping them, then fine, what ever helps them through their illness/time of stress.

What happens if you spend your day praying instead of actual nursing? I have no problem with staff praying with/for patients and their families but would be very annoyed if I had to cover their workload while they did it.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Nov 25, 2014

What happens if you spend your day praying instead of actual nursing? I have no problem with staff praying with/for patients and their families but would be very annoyed if I had to cover their workload while they did it.

Do you honestly believe this is a potential problem with the OP? Have you ever had to cover someone else's workload because that person was off praying somewhere?

Red Kryptonite · Nov 25, 2014

Do you honestly believe this is a potential problem with the OP? Have you ever had to cover someone else's workload because that person was off praying somewhere?

There are some anti-religious people who actually believe the religious neglect their work because they're so busy oppressing other people by praying all the time.

I'm religious and have worked with people of many differing faiths, and no faith, perfectly well. Some people have a chip on their shoulders and NEVER let go of it. They are harder to get along with.

The OP clearly stated this is a religiously affiliated facility. It's okay for him/her to explore how that might affect his/her practice as a person of faith.

I have a hard time understanding why an atheist would spend any time on the nursing and spirituality board in the first place, but it seems for some, it's just to stir up trouble.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Nov 25, 2014

Red:Well, I honestly don't mind atheists who participate, as long as they are respectful. I don't "jam my faith" down anyone's throat (except alternate Mondays, in which case I jam away... ).

Now, if someone declares me to be stupid for such faith, well....I'm not quite so nice afterward.

I like to think that everyone can learn a little something when on a message board like this!

Red Kryptonite · Nov 25, 2014

Anyone with a spirit of learning, ask away. But that's not what GrumpyRN's comment was about.

I agree with everything you said, RNsRWe.

GrumpyRN, NP · Nov 25, 2014

Do you honestly believe this is a potential problem with the OP? Have you ever had to cover someone else's workload because that person was off praying somewhere?

Of course not, I live in the UK, a very irreligious country, It just would not happen. I was replying to the OP where she states

I am blessed to have a new job at a religious based hospital that encourages spirituality and sharing faith and prayer with patients (within in reason, no be pushy or disrepectful).

and wanted to point out a pitfall.

There are some anti-religious people who actually believe the religious neglect their work because they're so busy oppressing other people by praying all the time.

There may well be, but I am not one.

I'm religious and have worked with people of many differing faiths, and no faith, perfectly well. Some people have a chip on their shoulders and NEVER let go of it. They are harder to get along with.

What chip? I have been polite and respectful, and am very easy to get along with.

The OP clearly stated this is a religiously affiliated facility. It's okay for him/her to explore how that might affect his/her practice as a person of faith.

And that is what I answered.

I have a hard time understanding why an atheist would spend any time on the nursing and spirituality board in the first place, but it seems for some, it's just to stir up trouble.

No, it is for information and part of nursing. Do you think that just because I am an atheist I do not have a spiritual side?

Now, if someone declares me to be stupid for such faith, well....I'm not quite so nice afterward.
I like to think that everyone can learn a little something when on a message board like this!

I have never said people with faith are stupid, misguided perhaps and (in my opinion for what it is worth) wrong, but never, ever stupid.

Anyone with a spirit of learning, ask away. But that's not what GrumpyRN's comment was about.

Quite correct, I was replying to the OP.

If I may make myself absolutely clear, I was answering the OP in the spirit I felt s/he asked. I remained respectful to her/his views and made no reference to them. I pointed out that being encouraged to pray may lead to the neglect of other patients due to time constraints and I was agreeing with nixonk86 that not all patients in a religious hospital are religious. I do not wish to get into a long debate about religion and it's place in modern hospitals or society.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Nov 25, 2014

I have never said people with faith are stupid, misguided perhaps and (in my opinion for what it is worth) wrong, but never, ever stupid.

No, I realize you didn't...it was a general statement intended toward the general 'you' found on message boards. Unfortunately, it does happen quite a bit.

As for your original response to my query about whether you believed the OP would neglect her nursing duties in favor of time spent on prayer, I don't see that as a viable pitfall at all. The parts of her post that you quoted do not support the idea that she would be 'wasting' time at prayer instead of carrying out her work. You had indicated that someone spending too much time at prayer might foist her work onto someone else ('carrying your load') when that doesn't seem to be at issue at all....anywhere. US or UK.

GrumpyRN, NP · Nov 25, 2014

You had indicated that someone spending too much time at prayer might foist her work onto someone else ('carrying your load') when that doesn't seem to be at issue at all....anywhere. US or UK.

A quick prayer with a patient is one thing. A prayer session with lots of family can take time.

If a nurse is on a busy ward and is in a room praying with a patient and their family who is looking after the rest of her patients? My point about the UK is if it happened in my area I would drag the nurse out and tell them to do it on their own time. This is a management issue - not an atheist issue. Again a quick prayer as she does her work is fine but protracted praying is not. We have chaplains for this.

How long is long enough for a quick prayer? 1 minute? 2 minutes? 5 minutes? 10 minutes? 15 minutes? I want to make this clear; I support the right of the OP to pray and I understand that if the culture of the hospital is religious then that is going to happen. But I stand by my thinking that it may lead to nurses going 'missing' from other patients, especially if it is encouraged by her hospital.

Another thought, how many times a day is this poor nurse going to be asked to pray? She is going to get burned out and overloaded very quickly.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Nov 26, 2014

hmmm...ok, I see what you're saying. But then, I'd have to tell you that it's up to each nurse to set her own time management, schedule her own routine, to get done what has to be done. After all, it's not likely someone is chasing you down because you spent one minute longer with Patient Z than you did with Patient X and Patient Y, is it? And then, one would have to ask you what business it is of yours (collective 'you', or anyone in this situation) to decide for another nurse how she should best spend her time on shift?

So maybe Nurse OP wants to spend some extra minutes with a patient while that patient is praying. Do you tell someone who is slow in the bathroom that they have exactly forty-five seconds left, or you're gonna move on? Of course not. So how can someone outside that room dictate how the minutes should be metered out?

Seems to me that as long as your co-workers are getting their work done, it's no business of yours or anyone else's to decide HOW.

Beyond that....are you seriously suggesting that the OP is going to 'burn out and/or overload' because of too many requests for prayer? Who on earth has this ever happened to? Even nurses who are openly receptive to such requests aren't swimming in them such that they 'burn out'! If I'm wrong, someone please set me straight and tell me truthfully how it was that you were inundated with prayer requests and got burned out or overloaded.