The strategy for reading Scripture that we have adopted here draws heavily upon two sources. The first is The Art of Reading Scripture, coedited by biblical scholars Ellen F. Davis and Richard B. Hays (2003). Particularly useful is the book’s programmatic essay, “Nine Theses on the Interpretation of Scripture” (pp. 1–8). Our second major resource is Reading the Bible in the Strange World of Medicine, by theologian and bioethicist Allen Verhey (2003), and particularly his programmatic essay, “The Bible and Bioethics: Some Problems and a Proposal” (pp. 32–67). It must be stressed, however, that our reading of the texts we have selected to represent the four strands of biblical moral discourse is sharply focused by an objective that is not envisaged by the essays in the Davis and Hays volume and is only indirectly related to the purpose of the work by Verhey. Our objective is to show how the complex picture of Christian discipleship displayed in the Bible compares with the ethical responsibilities of professional nurses prescribed by the Code (ANA, 2015).
The Origins and Distinctiveness of this Book
As noted above, we intend this book to be used as a text for nursing ethics courses at Christian colleges and universities, and that is indeed how it came into being in the first place. The authors are faculty members at Seattle Pacific University (SPU). SPU is a church-related institution; its faculty and staff are required to be professing, practicing Christians; its curriculum and campus life are regulated by an official Statement of Faith. Undergraduates are required to take at least two, and usually three, courses in theology and Bible, and all graduate professional programs include one course (or short modules distributed over several courses) in discipline-specific theological reflection. The course from which this book originally sprang, NUR 6301 Values, Faith and Ethics, satisfies this requirement for the Master of Science in Nursing and Doctor of Nursing Practice degrees. It has been co-taught annually by Steele, a moral theologian, and either Wild or Monroe, both professors of nursing, since 2014. As our curriculum requires, and as our own consciences dictate, we teach the course from an explicitly Christian standpoint, but we neither proselytize our students nor penalize those whose religious views differ from our own. The present book, which arose from the lectures and class discussions for that course, takes the same approach. We try to show how Christian moral and religious convictions match up with the current ethical standards of the nursing profession, as stated in the Code (ANA, 2015), and we seek to highlight the spiritual and professional advantages for Christian nurses, who conscientiously apply their faith to their practice. Yet we do not claim that Christians somehow make “better nurses” than non-Christians (cf. Doornbos, Groenhout, & Hotz, 2005, 1–8). We write from a faith perspective, just as we teach. Yet we have no hidden evangelistic agenda and we intend no censure of those whose religious views differ from our own.
The origins of this book help to explain its distinctiveness. On the one hand, little if any attention is given to Christian Scripture in the standard textbooks of bioethics and nursing ethics, such as Beauchamp and Childress (2013), Jonsen, Siegler, and Winslade (2015), Grace (2018), or Fowler (2015). On the other hand, one finds few if any citations to the Code (ANA, 2015) in works that analyze medicine and nursing from a theological perspective, such as O’Brien (2018), Doornbos et al. (2005), Lysaught, Kotva, Lammers, and Verhey (2012), or Thobaben (2009). We draw gratefully upon all these important works in what follows, but we attempt something they do not, namely, to determine what light the Bible sheds on contemporary nursing practice, as normed by the Code. See the Annotated Bibliography for a brief explanation of the relationship between those works and this one.
The Uses of This Book: A Word to Educators
Here we wish to offer several suggestions for nursing educators who adopt this book for courses in nursing ethics. First, we encourage that it be used in tandem with two other books, namely, a critical, annotated edition of the Bible with the Apocrypha, and Marsha Fowler’s (2015) Guide to the Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements, which includes the full text of the official Code (ANA, 2015) as an appendix. Our task in this book is to identify the connections between the main themes of our chosen biblical texts and of the Code, but students will profit greatly from drilling deeper into the primary sources for themselves. Second, we recommend that this book (along with the Bible and Fowler’s Guide) be used during the first half of the course, and that other resources be used in the second half, especially those that analyze complex issues in contemporary health care or offer thought-provoking case studies in nursing ethics (e.g., Grace, 2018). Our students sometimes report that the material included in the present book seems a bit abstract until they apply it to their own practice or to hot-button issues in their field, at which point the framework provided here proves its worth. Third, we suggest that students prepare for the class session during which a given chapter in this book will be under discussion by writing out definitions of the Keywords and answering the Reading Comprehension questions provided at the end of each chapter. Fourth, we propose that in the days after a given chapter in this book has been discussed in class, the students be required to answer the Making Connections questions likewise provided at the end of each chapter. This will encourage them to apply the material covered here to their own practice even before moving to the case studies and current issues in the second half of the course. (Note: the Making Connections questions tend to work better with advanced practice nursing [APRN] students, who already have a rich fund of clinical experience under their belts, than with undergraduates, who are still mastering basic skills and concepts.) This learning activity is especially valuable if students have access to an online discussion board, where they can interact with each other’s reflections. Examples of such discussion board interactions appear in the Clinical Voices sections toward the end of each chapter.
Figure 0.4. Nursing postage stamp. This US postage stamp was issued on December 28, 1961. For details on its historic significance, see Olin (2011, December 8). We display it here as a tribute both to the students in our classes, who have contributed so much to this book, and to the book’s intended readers.
Clinical Voices
As the reader begins to discover the connections between Christian Scripture and contemporary nursing, our ultimate hope is that these will be useful in a practical sense. Ideally, the nurse is able to integrate the profession’s code of ethics with his personal values and beliefs to provide morally confident and competent patient care. Nurses from many backgrounds have found the discussions of connections described here to be useful on both personal and professional levels. They encountered a new way to wrestle with some of the difficult questions in practice. Each chapter includes some of their thoughts about integrating the strands and Code (ANA, 2015) with their individual approaches to practice. These experienced nurses—APRN students, who have deeply engaged in these discussions—have graciously given us permission to share their stories, thoughts and concerns here as a catalyst for discussions among other readers. Here are some of their initial thoughts about the framework of biblical strands connecting to professional nursing ethics:
Arely Garza: Integrating strands
Nursing is a vocation. I have always felt caring for the sick is my calling. Even when considering other career options, they always felt wrong. Jesus cared for and healed the sick outside of work days, an act prohibited on the Sabbath. This demonstrates how nursing is more than a job. Nursing is stressful and often challenging both mentally and physically. My faith and sense of calling provides motivation to continue to care for others even through difficult times. My patient, an older gentleman with cancer, had a complex treatment plan. Over the multiple