I have always considered nursing more than a career. To me and many others, it is a ministry. It is mercy. It is compassion. It is service. It is a calling. It is our spiritual and religious values applied to every patient we touch.
The hospital, healthcare system, and community need us for our brains and our bodies. God needs us for our hearts. We have learned to become experts and healers, but it is grace that gives us the desire to see another human being live, breathe, and experience this world with dignity and with love. It is grace that compels us to serve.
On every shift we are exposed to pain and suffering, fear and confusion, but also healing and hope. We enter rooms where suffering saturates the walls and linger in moments where miracles take place in silence. The tasks we do that will never appear on any job description are what set us apart as nurses. We hold the hand of someone who is terrified to death. We whisper prayers and reassurance into the ear of a dying patient. Sitting and praying with someone we are caring for. Comforting and holding a family member when their family can’t be there. Our administrators will never notice this, and it won’t be mentioned in your annual review, but it represents ministry at its best.
Service to the sick is a sacred vocation across many religious traditions. The word of God is replete with language of compassion—raising others, binding wounds, and caring for “the least of these.” Nursing is the embodiment of compassion, manifested daily in the lives of nurses. They are the humble ones, the patient ones, and the sacrificial ones. They arrive when they are worn out. They comfort when their hearts are breaking. They persevere not for worldly recognition, but because their spirit demands it.
In a world where nurses are underpaid, overworked, and under-recognized, it is easy to feel invisible. But through a spiritual lens, every act of kindness is seen. No compassion is lost. The Divine sees it all. Every moment of care, whether it’s holding the hand of a dying patient or fighting for safety, is a seed planted in heaven. Nurses do countless miracles each day behind closed doors and heaven keeps count, even when hospitals do not.
The true reward for a nurse is not a bonus, not a title, and not applause. It is the quiet assurance that what she has done is worthy of a higher purpose. It is to know that she has changed lives beyond what words can express. It is to believe that God sees all sacrifice, all tears, and all moments of unyielding compassion.
In many ways, nursing is the ultimate service to God. When a nurse cares for the body, she also nourishes the soul. When she soothes a suffering soul, she is sharing God’s love. And when she is kind in the midst of the hardest of days, she is storing up treasure in heaven, not on earth.
The world may never be able to repay nurses for all they have done and continue to do, but heaven already has.
References:
1. American Nurses Association. (2015). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. American Nurses Association.
— This foundational document emphasizes compassion, dignity, and moral duty, supporting the spiritual and ethical framing of nursing.
2. Pesut, B. (2016). Nursing and spirituality: Reducing division and deepening understanding. Nursing Philosophy, 17(3), 199–210. https://doi.org/10.1111/nup.12128
— Explores spirituality as essential to nursing identity and practice.
3. Puchalski, C. M. (2012). Spirituality in health: The role of spirituality in patient care. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 15(10), 1217–1218. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2012.0159
— Supports the idea that healthcare providers engage in spiritually meaningful care.
4. Shea, J. (2000). The spiritual wisdom of nurses: Stories of life and death in their own words. Paulist Press.
— Provides real narratives of nurses connecting their care to divine purpose.
5. Holy Bible. (New International Version). (2011). Zondervan.
— Widely accepted translation; supports your theme with passages such as:
- Matthew 25:40 – “Whatever you did for one of the least of these… you did for Me.”
- Galatians 6:9 – “Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap…”
- Hebrews 6:10 – “God is not unjust; He will not forget your work…”
6. Taylor, E. J., & Mamier, I. (2017). Spiritual care nursing: What is it and why does it matter? Christian Journal for Global Health, 4(3), 34–44. https://doi.org/10.15566/cjgh.v4i3.177
— Discusses the spiritual purpose and rewards of nursing care.
7. Molzahn, A. E., & Sheilds, L. (2015). Exploring spirituality among nurses. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 33(2), 109–117. https://doi.org/10.1177/0898010114531850
— Shows spirituality as a source of strength and meaning in nursing work
Written By:
Juram Gorriceta MPA BSN RB LSSHP, Nurse Educator, Advance Simulationist.
Healthcarebeyond 
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