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From Luke’s Journal March 2026  |  Vol. 31  No. 1  |  God at the Bedside

I have been a Christian as long as I can remember, having grown up with a Christian mother and grandmother. I felt a call on my life to become a nurse so I could follow Jesus’ example.

My early love of God’s word opened my eyes to Jesus’ love and the many ways He cared for people in their physical, emotional and spiritual suffering. Many were miraculously healed, but every person He approached saw His compassion, felt His concern, and experienced the touch of His hand.

All nurses, not just Christian nurses, can show this compassion to their patients – “even if the sense of calling is felt within, the actual call comes from other people – and ultimately, we trust as believers, from God.”¹

Hospital Training and Nursing Education

Nurses are taught the value of good eye contact (where culturally appropriate) and person-centred care. We value each person for who they are and treat them with dignity and respect, remembering as Christians that each person is created in God’s image – Imago Dei. This applies to all patients, clients, residents or others.

It also covers patients who suffer from cognitive impairment or are unconscious due to an anaesthetic or life support. Christ-like love from others and practical expressions of care and support can really help to ease suffering and bring comfort, encouragement and hope.² Nurses can provide this care; however, they need to be validated and encouraged in their role and given opportunities to debrief. 

“Nurses can provide this care; however, they need to be validated and encouraged in their role and given opportunities to debrief.” 

During my hospital training, which I found very confronting, I was supported by colleagues, family and friends. I also had the support of the Australian Nurses Christian Movement (founded in Melbourne, 1913), the precursor to Nurses Christian Fellowship Australia. Understanding from fellow Christian nurses made all the difference between persevering with my nursing training or finding an easier road to travel. Nurses today can also feel isolated and lonely, and since good nursing care is sometimes invisible, they need and deserve recognition and support.

Christ’s love in modern nursing times

I have felt my efforts validated by grateful patients, residents and students. When we see their smiles, hear their words of thanks, and even observe their peaceful attitude, we know we have achieved our goal. This all takes place at the patient’s bedside, not looking at a computer screen. We can be truly present with the person and show Christ’s love in our words and actions. We can pray for them as we care for them and show Christ’s love through the gentleness and confidence of our touch, appropriate eye contact, and not flinching from massive wounds or deformities, etc..

Nurses show compassion to those who are suffering, to those who might be labelled as ‘difficult’ when they are fearful, and to those who suffer from cognitive impairment or translocation stress. The physical presence of a real person can bring reassurance to patients and alleviate their feelings of loneliness.

“The physical presence of a real person can bring reassurance to patients and alleviate their feelings of loneliness.”

Love, then, is central to the types of relationships that Tom Kitwood has shown in his model for understanding dementia and providing person-centred care.³

Carrie Dameron, from Nurses Christian Fellowship International, explains this further: “A few years back, I found a study about how the simple act of a kind facial expression can alleviate fear and calm someone with dementia. The person sees a calm expression and bright smile, and their fear is changed to trust and calmness. The same can be said for contrast. When the caregivers are rushed or frustrated, the person with dementia sees their face and feels threatened and fearful.”⁴

Empathy in the age of modern nursing

Education, too, has had a significant impact on nursing as a profession. Beginning in 1978, following the recommendations of the Sax Report,⁵ there has been a transition of nursing training from hospitals to Colleges of Advanced Education and Universities. This has resulted in a culture of best practice and evidence-based learning, which has also enabled research opportunities and career pathways for nurses. Reflective practice has equipped nurses to consider their actions and responses, engendering insight and showing more effective ways of responding in similar situations.⁶

Theological reflection allows nurses to engage in a dialogue between their faith and their practice.

Christian nurses may also be aware of the writings of the Catholic priest, Henri Nouwen, particularly The Wounded Healer: “What makes us human is not our mind but our heart, not our ability to think but our ability to love.”⁷  All nurses need to practise this connection with patients so that person-centred care is given professionally and accurately to the best of our ability.

“As nurses gain experience in their role, they can learn to develop empathy for their patients.”

As nurses gain experience in their role, they can learn to develop empathy for their patients. The Cambridge Dictionary describes empathy as “the ability to share someone else’s feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in that person’s situation.”⁸  Empathy does not drain us emotionally or physically, but is extremely comforting for the patient since they know they have been heard.

Personal Experience as a Patient

Recently, I was on the receiving end of nursing care. I contracted Dengue Fever whilst on a trip to Vietnam and, thankfully, made it back to Sydney before the symptoms became evident.

I spent most of the next two weeks in my local hospital and literally experienced the pointy end of acute nursing care. After a barrage of tests until 3 am, I was taken to a ward. One of the night nurses greeted me and, after I looked at the bed, I asked her for a flat pillow. She returned triumphant and beaming at fulfilling my request. I thanked her then, and she saw me again before she went home the next morning.

“Her faith and her enthusiasm for nursing made such a difference to my care, and to the culture of the ward…”

As soon as this nurse arrived for her next shift, her first stop was at my bedside. I learnt that she was a Christian and also that she had studied at one of the colleges where I had taught. Her faith and her enthusiasm for nursing made such a difference to my care and to the culture of the ward, which was peaceful and harmonious.

I thank the Lord for sending her to me and pray that our paths will cross again in my new role as Volunteer Chaplain. This nurse cared for me as Christ cares for us. She was professional,  thorough and compassionate. I felt truly cared for and made a steady recovery. This nurse cared for me with Jesus’ love and compassion. She was chosen and equipped by God to serve his people. “Whatever your calling is, you have been fitted for it.”⁹ I pray that other nurses cultivate Christ’s example of care – the heart of nursing.

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1. Prior, K.S. You Have a Calling. Finding Your Vocation in the True, Good and Beautiful. Brazos Press Grand Rapids: Michigan 2025
2. Sims, S. Together Through the Storm. Matthias Media: Sydney 2016 p.59
3. Kitwood, T. Dementia Reconsidered: The Person Comes First. Open University Press, McGraw Hill Educationb, UK, 1977
4. Dameron, C. The Face of Kindness. https://ncfi.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/NCFI-Cares-1-November-2025-The-face-of-Kindness.pdf 14 November 2025
5. ANMJ staff, Transitioning nursing education into higher education. anmj.org.au accessed 10 December 2025
6. Ingham-Bloomfield, B. A Nurse’s Guide to Using Mo accessed, 15 October 2025
7. Nouwen, H. The Wounded Healer. Doubleday New York: NY 1972
8. Cambridge Dictionary https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/empathy Accessed 14 November 2025
9. Prior,  K.S. ibid p.135