One cold and snowy day, three days before Christmas, I wished that I was searching for the perfect Christmas gift or making a snowman in the front yard with my kids. Instead, I found myself standing in a hospital supply closet, frantically searching for a bedpan. Through the ache of tired feet, the rumble of an empty stomach, a trickle of sweat under a mask, and the building frustration of working with an absent physician, questions crept into my mind about my choice to be a nurse.
What was the point of this job? Why did I continue to show up shift after shift? Was it to miss my kids’ classroom holiday parties, to get home after everyone was asleep in bed, or to eat a twice-warmed-up but now-cold lunch in less than five minutes? I didn’t gain the answers to these questions during that shift. It was through weeks and months of searching, asking God, and praying that I found my answer. It was about obedience.
Recalling the Higher Purpose
I’ve learned over the years that my commitment to Christ is evident in my daily work. The attitude that I maintain while serving others exemplifies my relationship and commitment to him. However, as many nurses would agree, an attitude of obedience and grace is not always easy to come by. Shifts are filled with medications to be given, beds to be changed, patients that need a nurse’s touch, and bedpans that can’t be found. I’ve recognized that the key to finding grace in nursing is by applying Scripture through meaningful and intentional reflection. Through reflection, a Christian nurse can connect routine--and necessary--clinical experiences with the higher purpose of satisfying God’s call on one’s life. When Scripture is applied to that reflection, the holiness of a nurse’s work is apparent.
Jesus calls us to be the salt of the earth, a lit-up city on a hill (Matthew 5:13-16), and to love others as God loves us (John 15:12). Amid daily nursing work, it may be hard to see that our labor has eternal value. Through reflection, we can begin to understand how God has used us, and will use us, to minister to people. Through reflection, we can remember ways in which we made a difference, the sacrifices we’ve made, and the times we fell short. It’s through this remembering that we can understand how great of a role we play in the fulfilment of God’s calling on our lives.
Evidence of God in Me?
During times of reflection, I begin with scriptural meditation (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 119:15). I utilize a guided prayer (podcast, playlist, etc.) to allow the God’s Word to wash over my heart and mind. Once my heart and mind are centered on Christ, I reflect on my clinical experiences through journaling. Here, I can identify moments where Christ was evident through my work, as mundane as it may have felt at the time. I also can identify areas where he wasn’t evident in me. In these precious moments, I decide in my heart to change my practice and my attitude. I become a better disciple of my Lord and my Savior in a world that’s in despair and broken.
Through the practice of reflection, we begin to understand how we must adjust our practice, our attitudes, and our hearts. A time of reflection should lead to a fuller understanding of the depth of God’s love for people, the grace he’s gifted to us, and the need for change to occur in us.
Kyle Dieleman wrote a blog post about reflection in the Christian’s life (https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/reflection-christian-life) describing the need to understand “who we are, who God is making us, how God is working in us, and how God is working around us.” It’s through reflection that we step away from the world and “reorient ourselves to our Savior and Creator” (Dieleman). This is essential in fulfilling the God’s call to be salt and light, and to love others as he has loved us.
Kathryn Palermo, DNP, RN, is a certified med-surg nurse and has spent 15 years leading EBP and quality initiatives and teaching student nurses about safe and effective nursing care.
This post is excerpted from Kathryn’s article in the October/December 2024 issue of the Journal of Christian Nursing.
Refresh your spirit and renew your calling as a nurse—browse free Bible studies, spiritual self-care practices, prayer opportunities and more on the Nurses Christian Fellowship website.
