Nurse suspended for offering to pray for a patient?

I don't think she should have been suspended, but that was pretty dumb on the nurses part. THat just is something you should avoid. People are sick, and in pain, their job is to handle the medical not the spiritual.

When you are sick and in the hospital, you often loose all sense of privacy. You are out in the open, people know your physical weaknesses. Spirituality brings some people comfort but pressuring a prayer (yes even just asking) can make someone feel even more exposed and uncomfortable.

I am agnostic as well. I worked have worked in nursing homes since I was 15 (first just training, then actually working as an aide). I will not pray with a resident, but if one asked me to I would sit with them and offer them comfort as they prayed. It isn't my job to actually pray with them though, so it is perfectly reasonable to refuse to say something with them. If they needed additional support, I would refer the facilities religious person to them. Most hospitals would have a chaplain of some sort, and most nursing homes will at least have people come in and visit.

THe nurse should have either just said "you are in my thoughts" instead of "you are in my prayers". SHe also could have asked if they would like to speak to a chaplain. I just think she was out of line doing that herself.

I think she should have just been told to avoid doing that again. But hey, this may not be the whole story. this nuse may have had a record of being very religious and pushy. This could ahve been the 10th time, or should could have argued with co workers about this stuff.

ADD: YOu most certainly can work up 25 years nursing without great ability. Some can do the job but are absolute idiots with their personal lives and dealing with other people. Obviously not all, but they certainly aren't all angels.

Personally, I am grateful a nurse offerred to pray for my wife when she was 7. She had been in a coma for a year and was given hours to live. A nurse said she would pray and my wife would live. The next day she recovered conciousness and is still alive no some 51 years later. So prayer did good. Maybe she should have asked Can I pray for you? Then the answer would be yes or no.

Not sure what your question is but Caroline did nothing wrong. I wonder about the nurse and carer who reported her and made such a fuss. Why did they do that? What sort of team is that? Many times I have smoothed things over for my colleagues (and I'm not talking about abuse). Where's the professionalism?

Many times I've had to watch patients being too scared to say they're embarrassed at the dirty talk and foul language which is often the norm on the ward. Once when I gently suggested to a carer that she tone down a bit, I was physically attacked. No one was suspended then.

When I trained it was taught that part of the nurse's role was to support spiritually, and we were actively encouraged to pray at the bedside if asked. It's not that long ago when the ward routine began with Christian prayers. .

The whole incident about Caroline, the nurse in question, leaves me feeling disgusted. I hope she keeps offering to pray for others.

How sad the patient reported a nurse just for offering prayer!!

sounds mean to me - but then i don't know how the patient felt.

I remember sitting at at a dinner table with around 10 people - one of my friends asked a lady who was in a wheelchair if she would like some of us to pray for her - the lady panicked and was clearly upset -- so we can't really know how the patient in question felt when the nurse offered to pray for her....

The odd thing is: prayer does promote health - it's been scientifically proven that patients who receive prayer recover more quickly ; )

I think it's a lot of fuss over nothing really -- and PC in the UK gone mad!

Strange then if you are not partisan about this that you would leave out and change salient points about the incident..... Not even give us a link either so we can learn for ourselves.

Examples: You focus on personal gain and gloss over the written and signed contract that states nurses should not promote ANY causes external to their duties. You also assume that the prayer offer was a genuine attempt to help. What credibility does a medical professional have if they honestly think mumbled words helps healing? Also not mentioned in the article - there was no hint of her intent, which could just as easily have been to proselytize or claim credit for any good results for her god. You do not mention that this was a repeated incident after an initial warning not to suggest prayers unasked. You do not mention the nurse in question's repeated history of handing out prayer cards.

Kind of slanted for an "agnostic" eh?

I nearly became a nurse and if I had, I would offer to pray for people whatever the consequences. I support the nurse, the patient needs to move on and let it go.

It was overreaction by the hospital and a real stupid complaint. Maybe the person wanted to hear something like this: I hope you suffer and die you ungrateful moron. The Hospital Administrators might have rewarded the nurse with a medal for cruelty and had a staff party in the morgue.

When I had to have a major operation last year one of the nurses who had been on my ward but was on rotation to another ward came especially to see me and tell me that she was praying for me.

Have to say, it scared me witless for a minute or to as I thought " What aren't they telling me? " before I realised that it was a caring gesture from a very kind lady.

Without knowing the circumstances it does seem over the top, however maybe she scared the patient as well!

I'm an atheist, but I agree that it was ridiculous to suspend her. It's not like she busted out the holy water and performed an exorcism. She was just trying to help, in her own misguided way.

Edit: I do suppose that there are always two sides to a story. Still, it does seem a tad anal to complain over a nurse wanting to pray for you. If she was being pushy about it, then fine, but if the patients are just trying to make a stand, it's ridiculous.

It probably depended a lot on the stink the patient made over it...some people are as entrenched in their atheism as the most rabid fundie on YA R&S is in their belief system...you should post the link...