Outcome level 1 assessment and evaluation

Christian Worldview Nursing

Health care in the West and worldwide has undergone very extreme changes over the past decades. However, the basic principles of nursing like caring for the sick and elderly have remained consistent. While technology has changed radically since the days of Florence Nightingale, Christian caring in the nursing profession is still a foundational principle. It is this foundational principle that I seek to express in my ministering to my patients.

Christian Worldview and the Integration of Beliefs, Values, Ethics and Service

The definition of nursing for me symbolizes a set of beliefs, values, ethics and service. Nursing is after all a calling and a vocation, not just a job. In Judith Anne Shelly's book Called to Care, she defines nursing as distinct from medicine, even though the two occupy domains that are close together.

She defines it in a way that I find very familiar and similar to my own which is that nursing is the care for the human who is made in the image of God (Shelly & Miller, 2006, 16).

For Shelly, it is important to care for the entire patient holistically. In the physical arena, it is important for the nurse to fulfill the patient's bodily needs. In the psychological arena, the nurse is also responsible for communicating with other people in the expressing emotions, needs, fears. opinions, learning, or satisfying curiosity that leads further to normal health and development and health that is available in hospitals/health facilities. In the spiritual or moral area, she feels that the nurse should worship and put their faith in motion in all of the above arenas with a profound sense of accomplishment (ibid.). In this way, Christian faith is put into motion and actualized. For me, this is the definition of nursing and the actualization of its values is most in tune with Shelly's definition of nursing. This reminds me of patient A. She said that she saw the way Christianity should be based upon the way the nurses in our hospital treated the patients. Even a blood draw can be a religious even if done well and with Christian caring.

Pr The Utilization of Professional knowledge in Combination With Christian Principles-Concept of Nursing with "Salt"

In the Journal of Christian Nursing, the nurse is urged to fulfill the command of Jesus to be like the salt of the earth and to flavor the life of the patient's by modeling our Christ beliefs in our nursing practice. In the opinion of the piece, if we lose "saltiness," people (namely our patients) will not be able to taste the godliness. At this point, we will have lost usefulness and will end. We are here to bring the light into the world, in this case the world of our practice ("Salt and light," 2012, 12).

In my opinion, by doing the above, the spiritual subsystem of self and patient becomes united. Nursing care utilizes professional knowledge and core competencies (such as critical thinking, communication, assessment and technical skills). Further, this integration is derived from a foundation of nursing science, general education and religious studies melded together, hence the need for a Christian worldview to hang all of this upon. This is the combination that Florence Nightingale practiced and it is just as valid today. Religious training and philosophy provides one with the initiative for continual personal and professional growth and development.

In my personal experience, I do this frequently. Even the changing of a bedpan is a chance for personal and professional learning and growth for the Christian nurse. By being a Christian, the nurse acts as a patient and family educator and advocates optimal health and well being. With the Christian framework in place, the nurse functions as a health care educator to advocate for patients in a health care system that is more interested in rationing rather than in dispensing health care. It allows the nurse to function independently and collaboratively as an integral part of a health care team to manage and coordinate care both independently and in cooperation with management. As I will refer to them, patient B. needed an extra procedure. By spending five extra minutes and filling out a chart, she got the procedure paid for. Our patients are not just commodities, but people and our Christianity must reflect this.