Background:

           In my three key insights, I have made a lot of connections to providing the most compassionate, competent  and equal care possible as a nurse. Despite nursing being a field that carries a huge responsibility, there is a potential to learn to be an effective leader. Being an effective leader can result in becoming a highly proficient nurse. I am a man of faith, which I am sure does not surprise anyone I interact with personally or professionally. I want my life to be a consistent reflection of God, who I invest my faith. Being a nurse allows the space to be someone who can serve God, as well as show the traits of humility and compassion to individuals who are struggling with health complications. There should be a religious organization, beyond the chaplain services, at Piedmont Medical Center (my future employer). This new group would allow nurses to form a group to meet and have studies, prayer, and even community activities.

           Student-led nursing organizations, such as the Nurses Christian Fellowship (NCF), exist. I have explored these organizations and recognize how it important it is to share faith with others and all work towards a common goal in providing consistent care. I believe that an actual Registered Nurse (RN) led group through the facility of their employment could have an impact. A comparable organization would be the Hospital Christian Fellowship (HCF) which was conceived in 1972 in a small town in California (“About Nurses Christian Fellowship”). This group works in an interdenominational manner to promote spiritual wellbeing in patients and fellow health care staff. It serves by using scriptures as a basis, which is what the prospective ministry at PMC would rely on, with opportunities for other beliefs to use their own basis of faith as well. An international chapter of the HCF is found in over 100 countries indicating this group has been very successful in these health care systems. Upon research, this group appears to most closely resemble the type of ministry I would like to see at my home hospital at Piedmont Medical Center (PMC).

 

Issue: Identifying the Lack of a Registered Nurse-led Hospital Ministry

           In health care today, there are many variables that strain the amount of quality care provided for patients. The common factors are nursing shortages, lack of pay leading to poor job performance, and toxic nursing environments. (“Impact of the Nurse Shortage on Hospital Patient Care”). Despite my limited experience in the workplace, I have noticed that when I allow my reflection of a compassionate nurse tech, or nursing student reveal itself to patients, it tends to lead to very positive results. From the nurses I have met that are Christians, they have always provided excellent communication and emitted a gentle and kind personality to their patients. In a survey conducted by Kansas State University, employees were asked about how their faith affects the workplace. Most of the individuals agreed that being open about their faith and expressing it leads to higher job satisfaction and assimilates a positive work environment ("Employees Who are Open About Religion are Happier, Study Suggests”).

           The key insight, Committing to Provide Compassionate Care, is related to this issue because I want to provide the best care for my patients. Utilizing my faith is something I personally do in the hospitals whether it is discussing it, or simply reflecting how I should act. Many nurses may choose not share their faith, but remain excellent nurses. This is not intended to prove that all nurses who do not claim a certain religious belief or practice are inadequate nurses. It is certainly possible that any nurse who pursues their faith in the workplace can encounter troubles. For example, there may be patient concerns that will need addressing pertaining to religion.  Discussion to resolve the concern leading to positive patient outcomes can still be achieved without conflict. After the nurses can gain experience from other religions from the ministry, implement new ways to solve challenges in patient care, the compassionate care can be provided fulfilling the nurses’ goal. Equal care, as mentioned in my third key insight, is related to this issue as well in situations where a nurse may feel concerns over their level of care towards different ethnicities, advocate groups like the LGBT community, or other religions. There is a high likelihood that nurses will have various situations with patients and their family that will practice their religion differently than the nurse. This will be important to recognize and take initiative to identify ways to avoid conflict and focus only on the patient’s well-being.  A ministry should focus on those differences as well and make efforts to embody professionalism. Even when considering integrative learning, my second key insight, this is an example for nurses to see the conflicts in the world regarding faith. Further knowledge must be sought after and education needs to be provided to help to defeat the barriers in health care, which is a concern.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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General Recommendations

           The within the classroom experience of attending an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting for NURS 411, helped me to recognize many of these individuals were able to turn to God after a difficult time in their lives. These individuals realized how important faith can be, which leads me to believe that faith can serve as a basis for excellent care in the hospital. The beyond the class (BTC) experience with an opioid pill abuser that attempted suicide with a family at home helped me to see that this person had not fully recovered yet. I knew shedding light on my faith and being someone who did not want to pass judgement, could help this patient emotionally. My key insight of committing to provide compassionate care is substantiated by use of faith. This compassionate care can translate to specific populations, such as opioid addicted mothers and their newborns. Identifying this growing concern in health care and withstanding the emotional impact it has due to the newborns innocence, I strive to be a compassionate nurse so I can become a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) nurse. Finding ways to include faith so I can be compassionate for patients, especially those vulnerable, is important for excellent care. My third key insight really ties into this as well. Being professional and never submitting to stereotypes of people who have certain drug illnesses should not skew my perception of them as they are equally my patient as the chronic respiratory patient. Equal care is a priority and, in the event, that some nurses may experience challenges in their faith in the workplace, I want an organization to tend to these concerns. Therefore, starting an on-campus ministry at the hospital could fulfill these concerns specifically.

          Developing an on-site hospital ministry for like-minded Christian nurses could re-envision a program for nurses and nurse techs. This would assist by getting familiar with scriptures that can help them learn to apply faith into practice. This could allow time to study God’s word and even improve the mindsets of nurses when approaching physical care. Many organizations feel incorporating the non-denominational approach is important so that everyone can learn the way their specific church may teach. This ministry would not be exclusive to necessarily just one religion or belief system; any religious group that wants meetings could participate if they can provide a facilitator of the meetings and coordinate with the other groups for scheduling times. It is important to consider this to avoid acting culturally insensitive. For this ministry, this could be an opportunity for nurses who practice their faith to explore and study ways to understand specific patient religious beliefs. Other meetings could allow discussing situations where a nurse’s faith was challenged and could not perform a medical action since their beliefs prohibited them. Even though nurses must care for a patient exactly the way they want to be treated, that can inflict concern and challenge for some nurses due to their faith. These meetings would identify that there is always a way to provide the best patient care.

           I think that this ministry should include RN’s, nurse techs, and Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN’s). Should the interest expand beyond just nurses, that would be more a blessing. I believe doctors and other health care professionals could benefit from this ministry. This could be a ministry that does a monthly outreach consisting of going into the community and passing out scriptures and doing charity work or volunteering. The opportunities for the ministry to meet and become acquainted with each other would lead to the development for spiritual relationships and interprofessional connections. A monthly session would be assembled to discuss recent patient concerns regarding their faith and scripture readings to identify ways to approach the situations next time.  When I attended the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting for my NURS 411 course, I learned that these individuals have gone through decisions in life that were difficult and harmed them but  received help from sponsors within the meetings, other Christians, etc. For the individuals who end up hospitalized due to their addictions, nurses can be the foundation for being an advocate to get better and seek treatments. If some nurses have personal convictions or judgements over an alcoholic, or even a drug user, the ministry sessions could help overcome these concerns. No matter how an individual ends up in a hospital or outpatient clinic, they are all sick and must be treated. Pertaining to drug users, my BTC interaction with a suicidal mother with access to opioid drugs is important to note. Just like the alcoholics I met at the AA meeting, there seems to be just as many drug users getting hospitalized. It is possible for nurses to feel that these patients can be intimidating and will cause grief regarding a nurse’s beliefs, but the meetings can help ease the nurse’s minds. There are ways to share scriptures and discuss non-formally how to approach many of these troubling situations should they arise.

 

Implementation:

Needs Assessment

           One of the first things I would need to do is to produce an attitudes and beliefs survey, which would include the perception and feedback regarding this ministry idea at PMC. After a successful survey that had positive feedback, I would contact the Board of Directors at PMC that has input on how a new organization or group at the hospital can begin to hold meetings and get access to going out on community events hosted. Should the survey not be received as well as hoped, this would be an opportunity to identify if nurses wanted to still develop a place to meet with permission from a unit manager. As collective groups, we could meet and share scriptures, without the actual development of a hospital program. The mission for this organization is simply to prepare nurses who have faith to be passionate about patients, while ensuring that religion is still respected so care is entirely dedicated to the patient without discrepancy in beliefs. I would be willing to volunteer to lead the groups that are of a Southern Baptist to American Baptist belief system, since this is where my experience has developed while studying as a part-time pastor at my church. To demonstrate need for this organization, I would need to provide some form of research towards the benefits of nurses having a form of faith or faith-based principles to apply in practice that promote better patient satisfaction, which I mentioned earlier in my “Issue” section. One of the important parts to developing a ministry on-site is to recognize that interfering with the chaplain ministry is unacceptable. Whether this includes interfering with their operation or “competing” with them. Their work is to go and provide reassurance and guidance for patients of various denominations, which is a right they deserve. This simultaneously will help nurses to become educated on religion discrepancies more so that the faith-awareness can become an integral part of effective patient care.

Meeting Logistics

           Securing a location at the hospital to meet and reserve a room, a time and a day must also be considered. There are many meeting rooms that get booked to hold staff meetings or other organization sessions. The monthly sessions as mentioned in the previous paragraph would be appropriate to have time for employees to recap on patient interactions over the four-week period. The sessions would consist of a moderator or facilitator that could help lead the group in prayer and discuss scriptures. The nurses could then be able to share in an open discussion the patient interactions that caused religious conflicts over the past weeks. Getting input and sharing other scriptures with each other would be an informal and educational opportunity. The outreaches will serve the community bi-monthly with different locations or new organizations in the community to help volunteer at and hand out scriptures. This could benefit the community by promoting the hospital along with the gospel. Aligning the community events that were mentioned in my “General Recommendations” can be challenging because PMC has so many organizations already established, the ministry would have to consider the frequency of opportunities.

Funding and Leadership

          Funding must also be considered as an important part to the community events, especially if the ministry wanted to offer fun activities free giveaways or hold events. This funding may be obtained from potential grants through the education department at Piedmont. Garnering the financial help can promote the development of the ministry into the community. I also must consider who would lead the community events as well as each religious group. The most rational way to identify this is to have a volunteer if there are multiple different religion/denominations that become a part of this hospital ministry. These leaders will be the ones who will coordinate with the other leaders and the management regarding scheduling meetings and events. Many nurses may work on the days these events will be held, so someone must be off to be able to lead these events. Getting support from the local Baptist churches will also be included in this plan, which will certainly help the group. These churches can provide locations for the ministry to help host events and branch out with fellow believers.

 

Evaluation:

           The effectiveness of the ministries on campus would be determined by the employee satisfaction from the meetings and community response to the organization’s involvement. There are many factors to consider when meeting patient demands, and beyond just physical care, spiritual care is just as important. I believe that the establishment of this ministry on the hospitals-site and the ambitions to practice the nurse’s faith, while being an advocate for the patient. This can strengthen the bond of the patient-nurse relationship. There will be many opportunities for this ministry and there could be some spiritual development for the nurses and potential religious guidance for some patient’s as well.

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References:

“About Hospital Christian Fellowship.” USA, www.hcfusa.com/about.

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Davis, Andrea, and Paula Maisano. “Patricia Benner: Novice to Expert – A Concept Whose Time Has Come                                     (Again).” NursingALD, Arthur L. Davis, Sept. 2016, www.nursingald.com/articles/16408-patricia-benner-novice-to-                   expert-a-concept-whose-time-has-come-again.

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“Spiritual Care.” St. Mary's Medical Center, www.st-marys.org/centers-services/spiritual-care