NURS 492 Week 6 Discussion Board Forum 4 Example

Discussion Board Forum 4: A Christian Vision of Nursing Under Strain

NURS 492 Advanced Concepts of Nursing Practice, Discussion Board Forum 4

Thread by [Student Name]

The patient, the unit and the classmates are composites; the textbook, Scripture and journal articles cited are real.

Three weeks ago I had six patients on a night shift, and one of them, Mr. T., was dying. His family was two hours away. I knew he should not be alone, and I believed my place was beside him, but I had a new admission, a patient in rapid atrial fibrillation and a call light that would not stop. I checked on him every twenty minutes, held his hand when I could and asked the chaplain to come, but the chaplain was with another family. He died between two of my checks. I did nothing wrong by any policy, yet I drove home feeling that I had failed him.

That feeling has a name. Moral distress is what a nurse experiences when she knows the right action and cannot take it because of constraints outside her control. Alimoradi et al. (2023) pooled 86 studies with 19,537 nurses in 21 countries and found a pooled mean of 2.55 on a 0 to 10 scale, with higher levels where resources were scarcer. The average sounds low, but averages hide nights like mine. The same review found that distress varied by setting and resources, which matches what I see: on fully staffed nights, I can sit with a dying patient, and on short-staffed nights, I cannot. The difference is not in my values but in my circumstances, which is exactly what makes the experience so painful.

Doornbos et al. (2005) describe nursing within a Christian vision in which persons bear God's image and nursing is a calling to serve their flourishing. That vision explains why the night hurt: if Mr. T. was an image-bearer, his dying mattered. But the same vision helped me afterward. A calling is not a promise that I will always be able to do enough; it is an assignment to be faithful where I am. Paul wrote that we are hard pressed but not crushed and struck down but not destroyed (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9).

Research suggests that spiritual life matters for nurses too. Wilson-Anderson et al. (2026) found, in a survey spanning students, practicing nurses and faculty, that participants who described daily spiritual experiences reported less burnout, greater resilience and more compassion satisfaction. I prayed in the car that morning, and I asked my manager to bring the problem of end-of-life staffing to the unit council. We are now discussing a simple rule: when a patient is actively dying without family present, the charge nurse arranges for someone, a nurse, an assistant or a volunteer, to stay at the bedside. A calling does not remove the distress of a short-staffed night, but it keeps the distress from becoming despair.

Reply to Jenna

Jenna, thank you for being honest that you are applying for clinic jobs because you cannot face another winter of twelve-hour shifts and patients you never have time for. Your distress is common and real. Boulton and Farquharson (2024), reviewing studies of emergency nurses, found that although reported levels of moral distress were low to moderate, up to 51% had left or considered leaving a position because of it. Ulrich et al. (2022), in a national survey of 9,335 nurses, found that work environments had declined sharply since 2018 and that healthier environments were tied to job satisfaction and intent to stay. Both studies suggest that the problem lies largely in the conditions, not in your character.

Scripture does not ask us to stay in every place forever. Paul learned to be content in every circumstance (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016, Philippians 4:11-13), but he also moved on when the work called for it. A calling to nursing can be lived in a clinic, a school or a hospice as truly as in a hospital. Moses spent forty years in Midian before his greatest work began (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016, Acts 7:29-30), and changing settings did not end his calling; it prepared him for it. If you go, go as a nurse who is still called. If you stay, it may help to look for a unit whose environment is healthier rather than leaving bedside nursing altogether. Before deciding, you might ask your manager whether self-scheduling or a different shift pattern is possible, since the problem you describe sounds more like the conditions than the work itself. Many nurses who leave the bedside find they miss it, and a change of unit may give you the relief of a new job without the loss.

Reply to Andrew

Andrew, you wrote that you are uncomfortable bringing faith into a professional forum because patients and coworkers hold many beliefs. I share your concern about imposing beliefs, but I think the research supports a place for spirituality in nursing. Mascio et al. (2022), reviewing 42 studies of 4,712 nurses, found a gap between the spiritual care patients hope for and the care nurses give, influenced by skills, professional identity and the work environment. Wilson-Anderson et al. (2026) found that nurses' own daily spiritual experiences were associated with lower burnout and greater resilience. Faith, in other words, affects both the care patients receive and the nurses who give it. A professional forum that ignored it would leave out something that research shows matters to patients and to nurses' own well-being, and Liberty's program asks us to integrate it for that reason.

The Christian faith also teaches humility toward those who believe differently. Peter told believers to always be prepared to give a reason for the hope they have, but to do it with gentleness and respect (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016, 1 Peter 3:15). That is a good guide for nurses: we can let our faith shape how we care and answer when asked, while honoring each patient's beliefs. Would you feel more comfortable if spiritual care meant first asking patients what gives them strength? That question invites patients of any faith, or none, to share what matters to them, and it leaves the nurse free to listen rather than to persuade. It also gives the nurse information that may change the plan of care, such as a wish to see a priest before surgery.

References

Alimoradi, Z., Jafari, E., Lin, C. Y., Rajabi, R., Marznaki, Z. H., Soodmand, M., Potenza, M. N., & Pakpour, A. H. (2023). Estimation of moral distress among nurses: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Nursing Ethics, 30(3), 334-357. https://doi.org/10.1177/09697330221135212

Boulton, O., & Farquharson, B. (2024). Does moral distress in emergency department nurses contribute to intentions to leave their post, specialisation, or profession: A systematic review. International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances, 6, 100164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnsa.2023.100164

Doornbos, M. M., Groenhout, R. E., & Hotz, K. G. (2005). Transforming care: A Christian vision of nursing practice. Eerdmans.

English Standard Version Bible. (2016). Crossway. (Original work published 2001)

Mascio, R., Best, M., Lynch, S., Phillips, J., & Jones, K. (2022). Factors influencing nurse spiritual care practices at the end of life: A systematic review. Palliative & Supportive Care, 20(6), 878-896. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478951521001851

Ulrich, B., Cassidy, L., Barden, C., Varn-Davis, N., & Delgado, S. A. (2022). National nurse work environments, October 2021: A status report. Critical Care Nurse, 42(5), 58-70. https://doi.org/10.4037/ccn2022798

Wilson-Anderson, K., Rothacker-Peyton, S., Fifer, P., Waldo, M., & Charbonnier, K. (2026). The impact of spirituality on the professional well-being of nurses. Journal of Christian Nursing, 43(4), 210-217. https://doi.org/10.1097/CNJ.0000000000001409