Useful Admonitions to the Christian Nurse : A Pragmatic, Theological, and Empirical Equipoise

The author explored the idea of healing of the whole person, and the understanding of health in holistic context evident in nursing practice, and persuasively argued that same idea is not radically distant and distinct from the context and the meaning of healing of the whole person in Christian worldview, despite the differences in the method and in the approach of both nursing and Christian therapeutic interventions. For the Christian nurse therefore, nursing care that includes spiritual assessment and spiritual intervention, is necessary, complementary, and not contradictory, and is indispensable for holistic nursing practice. Holistic nursing assessment and intervention that address the needs of patients are not complete without the inclusion of spiritual assessment and intervention.

Although nursing is a respected and a rewarding profession, and nurses play significant role in the recovery and wellbeing of patients, the author discussed the challenges and the issues in nursing professional practice which cannot be denied. These issues in nursing professional practice could directly or indirectly, adversely impact holistic health recovery and wellbeing of patients.

Using a jargon-free approach, the author demonstrated acute insight into the issues in nursing practice such as: workplace nursing violence, nursing burnout, medication error, lack of adequate spiritual assessment and intervention that address the needs of patients, the perils and the promises of whistleblowing, to mention but a few, through the lens of Christian worldview, while creating a balance between statements of fact and statements of faith. Through pragmatic, theological, and empirical equipoise, the author positioned the issues in nursing practice within the Christian biblical context, and offered useful admonitions for the nursing practice issues discussed with great mastery and scholarly proficiency. This book could be both informative and transformative to Christian nurses in particular, and to other Christian healthcare professionals in general, who practice in different health care settings that are often very complex and challenging.