Suspended for saying a prayer

[dinger]

A community nurse has been suspended from her duties because she said a prayer for a sick elderly patient .Has the world gone mad as far as I am concerned nurses are angels of mercy. This young woman has dedicated herself to helping others and it was her belief she was helping the old lady in her illness.The lady could have told her she would rather she did'nt do this for her if she objected. Surely with the shortage of medical staff in this country there are limits to what is right and wrong and what does and does'nt deserve this punishment . Whoever made this decision to suspend her should hang their heads in shame .Do you agree.

[Crocus]

To me it is quite shocking Dinger. I don't know what else to say on this. Why didn't 'they' just talk to her? But to just suspend because she in her heart felt that she wanted to pray for this elderly lady... goodness. Did the patient complain? xx

[Ivy]

To me as an outsider it seems odd that the Queen has the title "defender of the faith" you have a state church and yet anything in context with any sort of religion is banned from public life. And I for one(as a Christian) would rather have a Muslim nurse saying a prayer for me than nobody caring at all.

[dinger]

I don't think the lady complained Crocus but mentioned it to someone else who then reported her .She is quite upset the nurse has been punished for this . How uncharitable can some people be. I agree with you also Ivy you are quite right xx

[Crocus]

But is it policy in that hospital or nursing home that no prayers are to be said I wonder.
I find it quite strange. xx

[souter girl]

Should we stop saying "Bless you" when people sneeze now?
I think it is appalling that action has been taken - if you don't want to be prayed for, fine , don't listen!!But I have once read that patients who are prayed for have ,in a controlled experiment, actually made a quicker recovery whether they knew they were being prayed for or not!! Another example of bureaucracy gone mad.

[dinger]

If you are ill I think you are grateful for any kind gesture made to you .It shows someone cares surely so where's the harm in it .x

[eleanor2]

someone caring about some-one enough to pray for them.shows the person they are cared for.in nursing you can be very caring or just very dutiful.i find the caring nurses are a treasure.the dutiful ones can be quite cold and full of themselves. a nurse caring to pray for an old lady seems like a treasure to me.

[dragonfly]

I am not a christian and don't pray but still find this appalling. I can't see anything wrong in praying for someone whether they believe or not. I think it is the christian phobics at it again and I can't understand why christians don't stand up and object to this. It seems to me that anything christian is taboo now. I wonder what would have happened if it had been a prayer from a different religion.

[jazzactivist]

I am not religious at all, but certainly wouldn't mind someone praying for me in any religion if I was ill in hospital, so long as I was asked first. Suspending this community nurse seems harsh under the circumstances, and would only be acceptable if she was going around imposing her prayers on all the patients. I don't think that religion should have much of a place in public life, as it is a personal choice, but I would think that hospital is one of the places where prayer is very appropriate.

[Crocus]

A lot of question comes to my mind here. I as a Christian accept that there's people out there who have different beliefs, viewpoints, etc. and I do feel a bit worried that this has happened. Can there be so much to lose if someone only want's to say a prayer for somebody,with consent by the recipient, irrespective of religion or circumstances? If Christians accept that there are people thinking otherwise, couldn't the reverse also count? Religion is a very personal thing but it is also open to anyone which actually makes it public and private simultaneously I think.

Hi Dinger, I thought it was the nurse who reported it who felt bad about the suspension. xxx

[dinger]

It would be interesting to know if this does come under the rules of nursing which says it is not allowed .

Crocus I did'nt mean the old lady complained she mentioned it to this other person in conversation I think they then reported the nurse. The old lady does'nt want her to lose her job for it .