Nursing Administrative Values and the Christian Worldview

Nursing Administrative Values and the Christian Worldview Introduction Healthcare professionals and other high profile people agree to the fact that nursing is one of the most important professions in the 21st century. Nurses play a major role in safeguarding the health of the people and that of the nation. The guidance of objective nursing values is considered as one of the factors that have contributed to the success of nursing. It is, however, important to note that not all values associated with the nursing profession are acceptable by all.

Some of the nursing administrative values have been shown to contradict the values of the secular society, as well as those of various denominations including Christians (Hitchcock, Schubert & Thomas, 2003). This article through numerous legitimate sources is going to look at various nursing administrative values together with the Christian worldview of this profession.

The article will also include a discussion of how both can be implemented in nursing.

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Over the last few years, increased attention has been paid to the significance of administration in nursing service due to numerous factors, some of which include a realization of the need to plan for long-term activities, the shortage of people enrolling for the nursing career, increased competition for qualified young men and women by other professions, and the rapid expansion of health services. This is in addition to greater responsibilities on the part of nurses (Shelly & Miller, 2006). The involvement of members of other professions other than nursing to the nursing team has also contributed to the increased focus on the importance of nursing administration. More emphasis is being put on the essence of training in administrative responsibilities for the rising number of nurses, who must undertake administrative responsibilities. Numerous values have been integrated in nursing in an attempt to enhance the effectiveness and economical operation of the nursing service. Even though most of these values are derived from issues associated directly with nursing, some of them are developed from other sectors of life, such as social sciences.

Nursing management is one of the numerous branches of the nursing filed that put more emphasis on implementing and safeguarding the standards of care, both for nurses and patients.

Healthcare professionals point out that nursing administration is essential for all facilities that make use of nurses. Personnel in the nursing profession are required to be highly focused people who are governed by virtuous principles in order to ensure that the safety as well as the health of the people is not jeopardized. The Christian fraternity makes it clear that nurses and healthcare professionals need to respect the rights and beliefs of patients to ensure that their needs are met (Shelly & Miller, 2006). Christians hold that all people should be respected regardless of their position at their places of work, as well as in society. Under the guidance of Christian principles,

NURSING AND CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW nurse leaders are required to respect their juniors and create an environment that enhances provision of services to the needy.

Christians view nurse administrators as people who are placed in power in order to streamline provision of care and other services to the needy. Nursing is considered as an aspect of compassionate care for the whole person in line with God’s grace to a sinful world, which focuses on fostering optimum health in addition to bringing comfort in suffering (Shelly & Miller, 2006). Some of the nursing administrative values that are recognized as beneficial to the people by Christians and society at large include caring, integrity, diversity, and excellence.

Caring entails promotion of health, healing, and restoring hope to the people in response to their conditions (Haldeman, 2006). Christians argue that even though nurses play a huge role in providing high quality health services to the people, they should develop a culture of caring and recognize it as an essential element of the nursing profession. Nurses, Christians and nurse administrators agree that the health of the people and the common good for all can only be achieved if a caring culture is developed. However, Christians assert that nurses have not been able to offer the much needed care to all vulnerable populations. It has also been asserted that some nursing administrative values, even though projected towards benefiting all populations, may not guarantee the respect of the interest of all stakeholders (Haldeman, 2006).

Integrity implies respecting the dignity as well as the moral wholeness of all without limitation. Research has revealed that nursing is one of the many careers where a culture of integrity is evident (Hitchcock, Schubert & Thomas, 2003). This is a culture that results in the establishment of an environment which fosters free communication, humility, and ethical decision making. Christians state that observance of the principles of integrity is the right direction towards ensuring that professionals carry out their duties to a successful completion

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(Shelly & Miller, 2006). It is also argued that the action of individuals regardless of the positions they hold in society reveals their commitment to virtuous activities, as well as the manner in which they view themselves from the perspectives of others in society.

Diversity, on the other hand, refers to affirming distinctiveness along with diversity among people, ideas, ethnicities, and values. This is a nursing administrative value that embraces respect and acceptance. It is one of the nursing administrative values that are in line with Christian principles, which have it that each individual should be recognized as a unique creature characterized by its own differences. Christians, however, point that the aspect of diversity is not respected in the modern healthcare facilities. Christians argue that contemporary healthcare centers, to a certain extent, discriminate patients on the basis of ethnicity, economic status, religious beliefs, and race. The poor and the minority form the largest group of those who do not have access to quality health care. The other nursing administrative value is excellence. This can simply be described as the creation and implementation of transformative strategies. Excellence portrays a commitment to growth, understanding and improvement (Shelly & Miller, 2006).

Even though the Christian worldview may differ from certain aspects of the nursing administrative values, they can both be implemented in nursing with an aim of guaranteeing provision of high quality care to patients and the general public at large (Hitchcock, Schubert & Thomas, 2003). To ensure that quality care is provided to all despite their economic and social strata, nursing activities should be organized and managed in a person to person and in a participative manner, portraying the capacity to comprehend the needs of all and a commitment to fulfill the interests of stakeholders (Haldeman, 2006).

Nurses comprise one of the groups which are called to care, implying that their work is a calling. Therefore, nurses should be provided with a framework for understanding and acting in

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accordance with their mission, as well as living out their calling: Service to the almighty by way of offering care to the needy and the less fortunate in society.

Haldeman (2006) states that despite the fact that the modern pluralistic society advocates for religious inclinations to be kept out of places of work, it is important to note that nurses are guided by some values that keep them focused and encourage them to carry out their duties diligently. Both religious and non-religious values should be integrated in nursing administrative values to ensure that an environment is created whereby nurses can adopt beneficial attitudes that are not in line with their faith. For example, the right to privacy and rugged individualism are not Christian values, yet they are beneficial for anyone seeking assistance in the health care system (Shelly, 2000). Christian nurses should be trained not to disregard non religious values as irrelevant, but rather understand and apply those beliefs equally since this creates a room for adoption of a true discipleship strategy, in addition to increasing their capacity to practice their faith and their profession.

Conclusion It should be noted that some Christian values may contradict with those of other religious entities. All Christian aspects that may bring about conflicts should, as a result, be left out during the development of nursing administrative values. A groundwork that enhances leadership for quality care, evidence based practice, health promotion, patient safety and professionalism should be put in place. The Christian worldview with its assertions about God, culture, as well as humanity should be considered central to the nursing career. The practice of nursing among other health care services should be integrated with the belief that God is the only source of truth, and that he is the one who created all people regardless of their socioeconomic strata.

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References Haldeman, K. (2006). What's unique in Christian caring? “God is my biggest resource. Journal of Christian Nursing, 23(3), 20-21.

Hitchcock, J. E., Schubert, P. E., & Thomas, S. A. (2003). Community health nursing: Caring in action. Mahwah, NJ: Cengage Learning.

Shelly, J. A. (2000). Spiritual care: A guide for caregivers, York, NY: InterVarsity Press, Shelly, J. A., & Miller, A. B. (2006). Called to care: A Christian worldview for nursing. New York, NY: InterVarsity Press.