I have sat at bedsides where a patient's faith and their clinical team's ethical obligations were pointing in opposite directions. These are not comfortable moments. They are some of the most demanding moments in nursing.
A patient who refuses a blood transfusion on religious grounds. A family whose faith leads them to request continued aggressive treatment for a dying relative when the clinical team judges it futile. A nurse whose own convictions sit uneasily beside a procedure she is required to assist with. These are not edge cases. They are part of the texture of nursing in a pluralistic world.
The goal is not to resolve the tension by making one side disappear. It is to hold both with honesty and respect.
The nurse's role in these moments is not to adjudicate between faith and medicine. It is to ensure the patient's voice is heard, to facilitate honest conversations between patients, families, and clinical teams, and to advocate for whatever decision genuinely serves the patient's best interest — including their spiritual wellbeing.
That requires humility, patience, and a willingness to sit with moral complexity rather than reaching for easy resolutions. It is not easy. It is, I think, part of what makes nursing a profound vocation.
Written by
Ada Nwosa
PhD Candidate, Registered Nurse, and University Lecturer — writing at the intersection of nursing evidence, education, and faith.
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