Nursing students bring spiritual healing

By Morgan Smith, Faith Editor

“Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you,” Luke 10:9.

OBU is famous for its nursing program, and the university’s student nurses are able to use their roles to spread the Word.

Junior Hannah Adams is a nursing major, but she also intends to become a career missionary after graduation.

“It’ll definitely create a platform for me to be able to work in different countries, especially countries that are harder for missionaries to get into,” Adams said.

“Nursing just creates a great way for you to get into countries, but also just a great way for you to get connected with the culture and the people there.”

She said nursing allows her to help people spiritually, as well as physically, by treating them with compassion.

“I think even if in our clinical setting we’re not able to verbally talk about the Gospel, we’re able to demonstrate the care and love of Jesus not just to our patients but also to our co-workers,” Adams said.

Junior Sarah Pruitt is another nursing major who started her clinicals last spring. Clinicals allow nursing students to shadow experienced nurses in the field.

She said she was attracted to the nursing field and its opportunities to help people. Pruitt compared nursing to being the Lord’s hands and feet.

“Often times what we do isn’t the prettiest or something that you necessarily want to broadcast,” Pruitt said.

“But they’re necessary, vital things that can mean the world to people, from bandaging wounds to helping them clean up after themselves or giving them medication that can help them rid the disease processes that they may have.

While neither Pruitt nor Adams have seen direct ministry in the clinicals so far, they both said that nursing allows them to show Christ’s love through actions.

“For the most part, the nurses that I’ve been with and shadowed have really been very compassionate to their patient,” Pruitt said.

“They often times will form not a relationship that’s not a friend, because you have to be professional, but just that therapeutic relationship of being there and listening to their concerns and doing their very best to address them in an effective and efficient manner.”

After clinicals, the nursing students have post-conferences where they discuss what they’ve learned.

Adams said each nursing ward has their own distinct cultures, that can sometimes involve gossip.

“We’ve talked about in our recap post-conferences how, when we do start working with other nurses, that if a gossiping culture is on a ward that we’re working on, how we can set an example of not being drawn into that and becoming a part of that,” Adams said.

Sometimes, Pruitt said, just being present is what patients need.

“I’ve seen patients get upset or emotional, and the nurse, just by being there, is able to provide a calming presence,” Pruitt said.

“It’s not necessarily something they say or something they do, it’s just being there and doing their very best to provide for their immediate needs.”

In addition, Pruitt said she enjoys getting to learn more about God’s Creation through her nursing work.

“It’s not just giving meds, it’s not just different skills, there’s a spiritual component to it,” she said. “Plus you are exposed to medicine and the human body, and I find it fascinating, the different ways God has made our bodies and the way He orchestrates every process.  I think it’s neat to be a part of.”