My Worldview and The Christian Worldview, Coursework Example

How do the worldviews demonstrated in your own nursing environment compare with a Christian worldview? What tensions arise from the differing worldviews of your employer, colleagues, and those patients or students in your care?

My Worldview

I am employed in a level one trauma center as a Nurse Case Manager in Virginia. It is necessary to note that I feel that working in a trauma center has opened my heart as well as my eyes to the plight of suffering and how it affects people. This is one reason why I have a very strong, spiritually-influenced worldview, especially when it relates to my job at the trauma center. I believe that the Bible influences my worldview and when it comes to helping the sick to heal, I believe in praying for them in addition to physically caring for them. The Bible states in James 5:15, “And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up” (King James Version). I believe in being committed to prayer when dealing with my patients and I feel a sense of duty to my job. I feel that nursing is my calling. Shelly & Miller (2006) relate nursing to a calling that one fulfills out of spiritual commitment. This is in line with the Christian worldview and my personal worldview as well.

The Christian Worldview

Dockery, Thornbury & Colson (2002) state that a Christian worldview is a universal principle that encompasses all disciplines of study including science, law, history, art, humanities and health care. Additionally, it is also recognized that nurses are spiritual caregivers and it is stated that “The health care professionals who have long been attuned to the spiritual needs of patients are nurses. They have realized that people need more than excellent scientific medical care” (p. 299). The Christian worldview is strongly rooted in prayer and faith as instruments of change, particularly when it relates to sickness and healing. Studies show that people heal better when they have some type of religious or spiritual involvement with their medical care (Dockery, Thornbury & Colson, 2002).

My Nursing Environment Compared to the Christian Worldview

My nursing environment in the trauma center is sometimes highly stressful and emotional. My heart goes out to the people that are brought into the trauma center when they look at me with fear in their eyes or pain on their faces. I am also touched when I see families crying and desperately seeking information and they turn to me for answers. It’s times like these when my Christian worldview comes into play, because then it’s about compassion and compassion is what Jesus had for people when they were sick. He healed them.

Tensions Arising from Differing Worldviews

Tensions they may arise from differing worldviews of my employer, colleagues, patients or students might be conflicting feelings on what level of spiritual attention to give. Some of my colleagues are less caring and compassionate than I seem to be. I feel it is important to treat the human instead of the stranger that is just the next patient in line to be seen. It is true that some people do not have Christian worldviews because they are not Christians; however, I do not think this is an excuse to be less compassionate.

No matter what the worldviews of other people are, it is important to me that I stay true to my Christian worldview on my job and in all areas of my life.

References

James 5:15. (n.d.). The Holy Bible, King James Version.

Dockery, D.S., Thornbury, G.A. & Colson, C.W. (2002). Shaping a Christian Worldview:

The Foundation of Christian Higher Education. B&H Publishing Group.

Shelly, J.A. & Miller, A.B. (2006). Called to Care: A Christian Worldview for Nursing InterVarsity Press.