Making homebound visits is an important part of the ministry of the church, especially for older seniors who are vulnerable to isolation and poor quality of life. Yet too often they are neglected and left longing for visitors.
Nurses are in an excellent position to offer spiritual support to patients—and can do so with the backing of research connecting faith and health! A recent study in JAMA Internal Medicine reports that attending religious services can help you live longer.
“I’ve been an Infusion Room regular for over seven years. It’s like a local coffee shop, only with needles, tubes, and dangling fluid bags,” writes David Kenagy in the Journal of Christian Nursing.
“Am I going to die?” Doctors are often uncomfortable with the question and generally respond with a variety of treatment options that ultimately may be ineffective, costly, and detrimental to the quality of a patient’s life.
How do we bring God into the anxieties of our lives? “Nurses are always caring for others, sometimes to the exclusion of caring for ourselves,” writes Kathy Schoonover-Shoffner in her new JCN editorial, “How Are You Doing?”