It seems that wherever we look, the spiritual reality of including God in our lives is being questioned. The recent questioning of our Pledge of Allegiance, including the phrase "under God," created an uproar throughout the country, especially after Sept. 11. Even the Nightingale Pledge includes "I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully."

I attended Marquette University, where prayer and respect for religious beliefs of patients are hallmarks of a Jesuit education. Catholic religious services were always available, as were all Christian and Jewish celebrations. I learned how to prepare a kosher meal and participated in the celebration of Jewish circumcisions as part of being a nurse. The respect for all faiths has been a part of my life as a nurse throughout my career, even as I worked in Saudi Arabia for four years and had to keep my own worship secret.

As a young nursing instructor in a diploma school, when working with students, I had a young woman (in shock due to vaginal bleeding) ask us to call for a priest before she went to surgery. The resident said she did not need a priest but I called for one anyway. After the surgery, the attending surgeon heard from the resident that I went against his orders. The surgeon said, "I am never in the operating room alone. I know that what I do always has God with me and the nurses were right in having a priest visit my patient before surgery."

Whatever we do and wherever we work as nurses, we have a responsibility to uphold our patients' spiritual requests and needs. Some nurses have taken this mission of spiritual inclusion to greater depths, as in parish nursing. Joan Trofino, Ed.D., RN, FAAN, associate professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, started parish nursing in New Jersey and continues her efforts in both teaching nurses and doing research. Her spiritual values are also a gift she gives to NurseWeek as a member of the Mountain West Executive Advisory Board.

Every person in our lives is a gift from God, and regardless of whether the patient we care for has declared a specific religion as part of needs to be met, how we relate to each person is a matter of recognizing the essence of life as a spiritual being. When we become removed from this essence, such as when we are overwhelmed with technology and short staff, we lose our innate heritage as nurses.

As we reflect on Sept. 11 throughout the world, we are reminded of the universal need for peace and prayer. So, nurses are the frontline soldiers of human caring and keeping safe the spirituality of all, no matter where we are in our work and daily lives.

Discuss this and other topics with your colleagues at www.nurseweek.com/rnvillage.