How Nurses can Incorporate Faith and Prayer in Patient/Client Care

Introduction

The principal role of nurses is to care and advocate for people and support them through

health and illness (Smith, 2021). However, nurses have other responsibilities that support the

primary role. According to American Nurses Association (ANA, 2021), nursing is highly

specialized and is constantly evolving to address the needs of society. Nurses are vital in

safeguarding public health through ensuring accurate diagnoses to educating the public about

critical health issues. Nursing is not only a science, but it is also an art. The ANA (2021)

describes nursing as a heart and a mind representing art and science. At the heart of nursing lies

the respect for human dignity and a sense of a client’s needs. Rigorous core learning

complements the art, and therefore a nurse offers whole-person care to patients. Nurses strive to

provide whole-person care to patients or clients and their families. That means they cater to

patients’ physical needs, emotional or psychological needs, and spiritual needs despite their

personal spiritual beliefs and worldviews. Prayer is the most common spiritual practice,

especially among patients facing illnesses (Duquense University School of Nursing, 2020).

Prayer and faith help patients endure and find meaning in serious diseases.

How Nurses can Incorporate Faith and Prayer in Patient/Client Care

Incorporating faith and prayer in patient care can be easy and, at the same time,

challenging. While a nurse does not need to have a theology degree to cater to patients’ spiritual

needs, it is a challenge because there is no one-size-fits-all approach (Nourian, 2018). Every

patient is unique spiritually. When caring for patients, nurses pay close attention to patients by

staying alert if they need their help. However, people are different; some try to be friendly by not