Chat Room helps you dig deeper into JCN content, offering ideas for personal or group reflection with other nurses-great for Nurses Christian Fellowship student chapters on campus or nurse fellowship groups!
The Long Journey of Alzheimer's Disease
Read Long and Kennison, 218-227.
1. Describe the progressive nature of Alzheimer's disease (AD). When should a person showing potential signs be assessed for AD, according to the Alzheimer's Association?
2. What stigma appears to be attached to AD?
3. Are you aware of stigma-reducing projects in your city or region?
4. The benefits of exercise were noted. How can exercise be implemented as a nursing intervention?
5. Long states, "A tone of promise and hope must never falter in nurses' shared journey with people with AD." How can hope impact care for the patient and the family? How have you seen this in your nursing practice?
6. Kennison writes of the journey with her mother, "As a nurse, I knew the staggering numbers of persons with AD. As a daughter, I focused on just one." Imagine a diagnosis of AD for someone you love or yourself. Take time to wrestle with your thoughts/feelings.
7. In the context of AD, reflect on Genesis 41:8 (NIV): "In the morning his mind was troubled, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him." How might a person with AD relate?
Tattoos in Nursing
Read Miller, Leigh, Armstrong, and Kelley, online at https://journals.lww.com/journalofchristiannursing/toc/publishahead
1. Is the display of tattoos by nurses and nursing students a cultural or a professional issue? Does a distinction between those two enable more clarity in responding to the topic?
2. What are your thoughts? Where do you align with the authors, and where might you hold a different view? Chat with us at https://www.facebook.com/ncfnurses/The authors ask, "Do we have a double standard by not allowing the students to display their tattoos, while teaching tolerance of patients' diverse lifestyle choices?" What is your response?
3. Read and ponder 1 Corinthians 10:31. Discuss how this applies to a nurse's personal choice regarding tattoos. Would this mandate also apply in a professional or educational setting? Why or why not?
Serving on a State Board of Nursing
Read DeKoninck, 240-241.
1. Do you know someone who has had to appear before a state Board of Nursing (BON)? What was this person's experience? Would justice, mercy, and humility describe his/her account?
2. If a nurse is at fault, how does a BON member who must administer judgment find a balance between justice and mercy?
3. As a Christian, how could one's input and mindset present a Christ-like perspective in this role? What would be most challenging? What might you find rewarding?
4. The author gained clarity when deciding who her patients were. Who does she say she works for? Why is this an important distinction? Discuss.
5. Read Deuteronomy 16:20; Job 34:12; Proverbs 18:5, 29:7 (NIV). These verses provide a window into God's regard for justice. What do we learn about God? About others? About self? How might these verses assist those serving on a BON?