Hope has become our anchor in a world awash in fear. Our fellowship time with other Christian nurses has become precious. Nurse Carrie M. Dameron has given us a wonderful gift of 52 reflections, Scripture, thought-provoking applications and questions, plus a place to write down our thoughts in her devotional book, Cares: Reflections for Nurses. This book helps nurses connect their faith to nursing practice. Many nurses feel a disconnect between work and Sunday worship services. Friends and church members have no idea of the challenges that nurses face, especially with COVID-19 complicating our work every day. Cares helps us to feel understood and encouraged to keep going and serving our patients.
Scripture is deftly connected to a theme for each well-thought out devotional. Faith in God is strengthened as we each travel on our own personal faith journey. God is in control, and we can trust in him to help us through difficult times. Each day brings its own challenges and uncertainties. These devotionals help us to think through how we respond to those especially hard parts of nursing.
Our local NCF nurses group really connected to “A Blanket of Grace.” We liked how the warmth of the blanket can comfort and makes patients feel secure in the often sterile environment of the hospital. As nurses, we can extend grace to patients. Carrie writes, “Grace is the mercy of God manifested through our caring touch and tender words.”
Florence Nightingale firmly believed that nursing is a sacred calling. As we live and work in a secular environment, we’re challenged to live out our faith as Christian nurses and impact nursing practice. Through these devotionals, we experience how we can share God’s love to coworkers and our patients.
Cares is used by nurses in the United States and by Nurses Christian Fellowship International to reach out to Christian nurses all over the world. Some of these nurses feel isolated in their country and Cares helps them to connect with other Christian nurses. Cares is available in a bilingual Spanish-English version; an English-Chinese edition is coming soon.
Diane Stegmeir, RN, MACL, CDE, CCM, is a diabetes case manager for Kaiser Permanente in Salem, Oregon. She attends Westminster Presbyterian Church via YouTube these days. Diane was on staff with NCF as the student and nurse coordinator for Northern California and Southern Oregon for 8 years. She currently is a co-leader for the Salem NCF nurse group.
Cares: Reflections for Nurses is available on Amazon and is published by Nurses4him.org, Carrie’s own publishing site.
Various books and media for spiritual growth are listed on NCF’s Resources pages. Also, every issue of the Journal of Christian Nursing contains “What’s Vital?” a short, focused Bible study as well as a column of discussion questions for articles in that issue, useful for individual or group use.
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