Using Prayer for Nursing

Christian Aspects of Nursing

Nursing is a very important profession for the simple fact that it enables practitioners to engage directly with the public. As a nursing student who is also a Christian, it is important for me to realize that I should practice this profession in a way that is consistent with Christian values and morals. One of the most eminent Christian doctrines is the belief that "God created man in His own image" (Genesis 1: 27). Incorporating this tenet in my nursing practice means that I should attempt to do all that I can to assist my patients with their treatments, which includes praying for them.

Generally speaking, there is a clear distinction between one's profession and one's faith. However, as a Christian nurse I believe that it is important to help my patients and every way possible. Doing so, then, involves not only following nursing protocols and the guidelines and ethics that have shaped this profession, but also incorporating aspects of my faith to attempt to achieve the best results for patients. To that end, I believe that it is important to attempt to pray for the patients that I treat. This philosophy becomes particularly poignant and useful when dealing with patients that are seriously wounded or injured, and that might lack the financial or even physical means of getting the best treatment. In these instances I truly believe that it is my duty as a Christian to realize that in addition to my professional responsibilities, I also have the responsibility to help these people as Christian who views others as having been created in God. Thus, I think that it is prudent to pray for these patients after I have done all I can to ensure that they receive the best physical nursing treatment as a way of perhaps augmenting and expanding such treatment. The Bible states to "do to others as you would have them do to you" (Luke 6:31), which includes praying for patients.

Additionally, there are situations in which Christian nurses encounter other treatments during the course of the work of the former. In these instances, nurses are similarly obligated to help such patients in every way that they can -- which involves not only nursing them to the best of their abilities, but also praying for them as well. However, in situations in which nurses are treating patients that are fellow Christians, they can expand on the power of prayer mentioned in the first example. Whereas in that example nurses can pray for their patients silently or perhaps even aloud when they are home or away from them, with Christian patients nurses can actually pray aloud for patients while in their presence. In fact, it would not be inappropriate in certain instances for nurses to lead small or impromptu prayer sessions with their patient that might perhaps involve their family members. Doing so would invoke some of the leadership responsibilities that nurses are charged with, as well as to continue to treat patients as the reflection of God's image.