Worldview Paper for Nursing

Tina Abraham Nyack College Professor Inseon Hwang NUR 301: Christian Nurse Christian Worldview: Christianity vs. Naturalism Introduction A worldview is not determined simply by a single factor, value, belief or view. It can be described as a collection of beliefs a person has about his or her life and the world around. This worldview can include aspects such as a consistent decision making process, an idea of what is right or wrong, and also who or what authority do I respect and follow. This view can modified constantly by factors including experiences that a person might face, a changing environment, and different values.

There are many different types of worldviews and perspectives people have about the world that help to shape who they are. In many professions it is critical to have a strong foundation and a firm worldview to help endure everyday battles and difficult situations that may arise. Nurses especially are faced with different and difficult situations almost every day of their working careers. In these situations it is important to have a constant decision making process and a strong belief in what is moral and ethical.

I believe that my worldview as a Christian has helped me to make moral and ethical decisions in my life and has shaped my character, and will continue to do so as a nurse. What is a Christian Worldview? I believe Christianity is based on life and teaching of Jesus as presented in Old and New Testament. There are three largest groups of Christianity in the world; they are the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the protestant sect which has many other denominations in it (McCalman 2009). As a young Catholic, I was to memorize many prayers, one being the Apostle Creed.

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In the creed it is stated that “Jesus suffered, died and was buried and in the third day He rose again, He will come to judge the living and the dead. ” I was taught that He will return to judge and everyone who believes in Him and they will be given eternal life. The spread of Christianity extends from the cities of Hellenized Roman Empire to East Africa and gradually towards the South Asia (Robert 2011). Many Apostles traveled widely and established new communities in many of the major cities and regions throughout. In reality Christianity is an infinite personal God exists.

He created everything in the world that we live in now. We know that the universe as we know it has a beginning and will have an end. We are unique creation of God, in Genesis 1:27 it is stated “so God created man in His own image of God he created him; male and female he created them. ” That means we are personal, eternal, spiritual, and biological human beings to God. We learn the truth about God through revelation and having faith in God. We learn the truth about the world he created through the Bible. Christian’s have many moral and ethical values which are objectively expressed of an absolute moral being.

Also Christians believe in the Ten Commandments, the holy sacraments and the apostle’s creed, which we learn about moral values. In early Christian belief, Judaism came into existence before Christianity and believed that it was divided into a new religion from Judaism soon after the destruction of the second Temple that happened in the year 70 CE (Schrijvers 2009). In Christian belief, Jesus Christ is the prophesied Messiah in Torah or the Hebrew Bible. The foundations of Christianity and all the chief claims that are accepted by the followers can be seen in the ecumenical creeds (Robert 20110.

As a Christian or a follower or any worldview it is important to answer the question “Who am I? ” In my belief and understanding I believe that I was created by God, and from His hands I was given into my mother’s hands. The purpose that I live each day on this earth is to serve God and be a testament of his mercy and grace. The Catholic Churches are headed by bishops in a spiritual union with the Pope, and the Bishop of Rome is considered as the center of intellect in terms of faith, morals and cathedral matters (Robbins 2010).

As a Christian there are values that I believe and I still hold on to, and will continue to hold onto for years to come. Some small examples include belief against abortion and I also believe that sex before marriage is immoral. I strongly believe in the seven sacraments and I believe that we should always pray for the dead. As a Christian I believe in confession and I strongly believe in the afterlife. As a Christian I have learned to always forgive and forget anyone that has sinned against our God. Along with many other Christians, I live in the world that He created and I am patiently waiting for His second coming.

It took me a while to know where I was going with my life and I knew the only way that I could get any answer is through prayer and having faith in my God. As I stand here today I know He has a plan for me and I know that with Him by my side there can be nobody against me as stated in Romans 8:31. Also as a Christian we all have went against God’s commandments and we have allowed sin into our lives. Even though we do wrong and sin on a daily basis, we have learned as Christian’s that we need to fix the problem by be obedient to God’s calling and repent so that we can be saved through this compassion and grace.

Every person on this earth has a great purpose they are going to fulfill throughout their life. I believe my purpose here is to serve God for what he is calling me for. It took a while to know that he was calling to me to become a nurse, and every day that goes by I know this is my calling to God, to serve people that are ill. I know that being a nurse sometimes can be difficult but I know that God has anointed me to help the sick and take care of them. I know as a Christian when I die, I will die knowing God and I will die having faith in my God.

I am not afraid to die because God granted me my life and he has all the power in the world to take me one when it my time to go. Where am I going after I die? It is still a mystery to all what will happen when their death day comes. As a Christian growing up, I was always taught that God will take our souls to a place called heaven, where we will have eternal and everlasting life. Morals and Ethical Issues in Everyday Living There have been many experiences in my life that did not along with my morals and ethic decision making.

It is important to understand that people have worldviews and because of that they will act differently in a situation. In these situations I believe that I would have acted differently than the other person doing the decision making. A family friend of mine who was married lived with both her parents at home. The husband and wife were happily married and were also bother doctors. The sad part of this story was that the parents were both ill, the mother being terminally ill. Because of the busy lifestyles of the husband and wife, they did not have time to take of the parents nor did they have time for each other at times.

They both believed that putting their parents into a nursing home was the right thing to do because they are thinking they can get the care that they need from nurses and someone will always watch the parents. I still remember till this day the look on the mother and father s face when they found out they were going to be living in a nursing home. They were scared because they did not know where they were going and they weren’t as fluent in the English language. As a Christian I could not understand why this was happening because in the Ten Commandments it states to honor thy mother and father.

That means you will do every measure to keep them safe in your arms as they did for you. The fact that the mother could not get help from their own children hurts me because they are both in the medical profession. The wife needs to know that she is sending that woman that raised her and took care of her and protected her from any evil to a nursing home where she will not be happy or secure. I believed that the husband and wife needed to make time for their mother because the help that she will get from her own daughter will make her feel much better.

The pain that her mother is feeling, the daughter will never understand until the daughter becomes a mother herself. Then I asked myself as I left their house is there really people in the world like this who would be cruel to their parents. I remember visiting their parents in the nursing home, and the mother was getting worse and worse each day. When I asked the nurse how she was feeling the nurse told me that she does not take any of her medication and she does not eat anything. All she does is stay in her room with her husband and talk about how she wants to die. When the nurse told me what was going on it simply broke my heart.

The nurse explained to me how she was shocked that their daughter would do this to them since they were financially stable and could give great care at home being that they were both doctors. At that point I even thought of taking the parents to my own home. I remember telling her that you need to take your medication and eat food because we do not get to chose when we die because that decision belongs to God. I remember as I was leaving her room, she pulled me and told me that her daughter has not even come to see her once this week or even check up on her and she feels she is not wanted by her daughter.

To make her feel better I told her, your daughter will come soon and maybe she is busy but she will be here soon. I wanted to make her feel better before I left the room and I wanted her to have a peaceful heart as she was laying the bed. It is sad to say that week later, her mother had passed away in the nursing home. I believe that it impacted them so much that they thought it was best to take their father home. I was praying often for them so that God would give her a change of heart. What is a Naturalistic Worldview? I believe that the daughter in this story takes up a naturalistic worldview.

Naturalism is based on science and not on traditional religious principles. In comparison, it is not the exact opposite of Christianity. However, it does not believe that there is a God that made the world. The followers of naturalism believe that the universe is governed by natural laws and that the universe only exists because of these laws. The universe gradually unfolds among itself and is interconnected with our minds and bodies. Everything that happens is an effect of the environment and also is a cause of something else to happen not anything related to God.

The naturalist believes that they are a result of a series of unfolding events. They believe that there is no great purpose behind my life. They may also believe that there was no special meaning or a will behind it and that everything that happens in their life is a result of a cause and effect situation (Naturalism 2007)). The naturalist is in a universe that unravels itself. The universe has just developed these highly complex organisms (humans) that have the capability to have feelings of self reflection, suffering, wonder, joy, etc…our consciousness and feelings of choice are not intertwined with any supernatural touch (Stanley 2011).

Conclusion Through the comparison of the two worldviews I have come to an understanding that our actions and decisions help to tell us as who we are as a person. In the nursing career there will be many times when a person is faced with difficulties in different areas not limited too but including patient care and also with co-workers. During these difficult times in our lives it is important to let God in our lives and let his handle the situation instead of worrying.

After writing and brainstorming for the paper, I have come to a stronger understanding that I have a very strong foundation in Christianity and a strong worldview. I know that through prayer and guidance from God, it will help me in my decision making process. . References (2007, August 31). Naturalism. Electronic Ardell Wellness Report (E-AWR). p. 3. Modernism, Christianity, and Business Ethics: A Worldview Perspective David Kim, Dan Fisher and David McCalman Journal of Business Ethics , Vol. 90, No. 1 (Nov. , 2009), pp. 115-121 Robert, D. L. (2011).

Cross-Cultural Friendship in the Creation of Twentieth-Century World Christianity. International Bulletin Of Missionary Research, 35(2), 100-107. Robbins, J. (2010). Anthropology, Pentecostalism, and the New Paul: Conversion, Event, and Social Transformation. South Atlantic Quarterly, 109(4), 633-652. Schrijvers, J. (2009). What Comes after Christianity? Jean-Luc Nancy's Deconstruction of Christianity. Research In Phenomenology, 39(2), 266-291. Stanley, M. (2011). THE UNIFORMITY OF NATURAL LAWS IN VICTORIAN BRITAIN: NATURALISM, THEISM, AND SCIENTIFIC PRACTICE. Zygon: Journal Of Religion ; Science, 46(3), 536-560.

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