Offering prayer during COVID-19
"During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Should Nurses Offer to Pray with Patients?" (July 2020) posed a provocative question, and the arguments for it and against it were well delineated. I support the author in her conclusion that offering prayer to patients can be appropriate in some circumstances, especially given the restricted visitation imposed by healthcare facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through "being present" for our patients, feelings such as fear, hopelessness, and isolation are assessed, and we have an opportunity to offer some form of prayer in an unbiased and respectful manner.
-ARLENE CYBAK, MSN, RN
Barboursville, Va.
Don't run out the clock
"Now that I'm out of nursing school, I'll never have to go back to school again." We all said something like that when we got out of nursing school. It was a grind, and we were glad when it was over. But here's the catch: The clock is running out on all of us. Your body will give out from having too many patients to lift, too many long nights with no recovery time, and too many commutes to and from work. Eventually, you will have to make a choice: stay put and weather the storm or move on. If you decide to move on, make sure that you have the education and skill sets you need to make the transition.
Life happens. When my wife died in 2009, I was 55 and did not have the resources or the time to get an advanced degree. After injuring my back on the job, I retired from nursing in 2018 at age 63. The clock had run out, and so had my options. My chances for advancing my nursing career had narrowed and finally disappeared as I got older.
Don't let that happen to you. You were bright and ambitious enough to survive nursing school. Don't stay put; move on and move up. Get that advanced degree. You will not regret the decision. The clock is running.
-MICHAEL A. CAMPBELL, RN
Woodlawn, Tenn.