The Nurse's Role in Providing Spiritual Care - Is It OK to Pray?
There has been recent discussion in one of the allnurses threads about a nurse in the UK who was placed on suspension for offering to pray with a patient. In this instance, the nurse only offered to pray. She reportedly did not follow through with prayer when the patient declined her offer. In this instance, we only know what was written. We can only guess what the entire story might be.
This brought up much discussion about whether or not offering prayer falls within the scope of the nurse while providing spiritual care.
Is it appropriate for nurses or doctors to pray with patients?
Should a nurse ever offer to pray with a patient without a specific request from the patient or the family? How can a nurse appropriately provide spiritual care? or should that aspect of care be left to the chaplain?
In the United States, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHP) requires that a spiritual assessment be completed on every patient. Because nurses work closely with the sick and dying, they often find themselves called upon to address a patient's spiritual needs. At the same time, they may be concerned about the appropriateness of such activities, as well as have questions on how to proceed. Although not all nurses feel comfortable providing spiritual care in all situations, they should be sensitive to the spiritual needs of their patients.
Many nurses feel both comfortable and confident in engaging in spiritual care activities such as praying with patients and listening to spiritual concerns.
These activities may be appropriately carried out by the nurse only if acceptable to the patient and the family. In order to provide respectful care, it is necessary to refrain from using the clinical setting or professional authority to promote any type of religion or particular spiritual practices.
It is not appropriate to pray aloud with/for every patient without patient request. Depending on the situation and the relationship the nurse has established with the patient, it may be appropriate to offer prayer. However, it is important to be attuned to the patient's already established spirituality. The clinical setting is not the place for proselytising, nor does the health care professional role properly include such activity.
When a patient is faced with a health crisis, he or she may seek spiritual nourishment, even if this has not been a typical part of the person's day-to-day life. Patients who are members of a particular faith tradition, and those who are not, may want prayer or other forms of spiritual activities to be part of the care they receive from health care professionals. Or they may not. Either way, health care professionals who want to provide spiritually nurturing and ethically sensitive care need to think carefully about the place of spiritual care in professional service.
Chaplains should not be the only providers of spiritual care for patients and their families. Much of the spiritual and religious support comes from other people, including parish nurses, clergy, family and friends of patients, volunteers representing different faith communities or congregations, and others. Although their personal spiritual beliefs may differ from those of the patient, medical staff can also address the spiritual needs of the patient. All medical personnel (believers and non-believers alike) must not let their personal beliefs get in the way of providing quality care for all of the patient's needs.....including spiritual needs.
