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!
Measles and Vaccination: A Resurrected Disease, A Conflicted Response
Read Schmidt, 214-221.
1. Describe factors that led to the current measles outbreak. How has a disease that was declared eradicated from the United States in 2000 returned?
2. How is measles transmitted, and what are classic indicators of infection?
3. What steps do healthcare providers need to follow to stay protected? Are you current on prevention measures?
4. The author writes, "A nurse's factual, encouraging conversation with a parent, including a parent reluctant to consent to vaccination, can be a deciding factor in whether or not a child receives needed vaccines." What steps are suggested? How comfortable do you feel in starting such a conversation? How would you initiate such a conversation?
5. Consider the herd immunity concept. How does the value of herd immunity in protecting a community relate to Jesus' instruction to love our neighbors? What implications do Genesis 4:9 have in the vaccine debate? Discuss, in light of the measles outbreak.
Calling or Choice
Read Miller, 236-237.
1. Do you consider nursing a calling, a vocation, or a choice? How do you define these terms in your practice?
2. To what degree do you think one's mindset of "choice" or "calling" affects daily practice? When might mindset make the most difference?
3. Based on your experience, do you agree that most people view nurses with high regard?
4. Read Psalm 33:11; Proverbs 20:5; Ephesians 2:10. Discuss the idea of purpose, specifically your purpose in nursing, in relationship to these verses. In what ways might this encourage you? How often do you sense purpose in your work? When you don't, what factors are at play?
What Do I Do with My Tears?
Read Taylor, 259.
1. How do you typically respond when a patient or family member cries?
2. Why do people sometimes apologize for their tears?
3. What are the three general responses to tears? When do you find a tearful response frustrating? What factors are normally in play?
4. The author states, "If the nurse is providing emotional mirroring for the crying patient, then the nurse's tears will not be more intense than the patient's." Has this been your experience?
5. Do you often try to suppress your tears? Why? How do past experiences influence this behavior for you?
6. What actions or words demonstrate an openness to tears?
7. Reflect on Isaiah 25:8 and Psalm 56:8. What do we learn about God through his response to tears?