A prayer of thanksgiving and confession for International Nurses’ Day
Based upon John 15:9-15 (May 17)
Loving God, carer of creation and the source of all care, we give thanks that you abide in human hearts, and command us to show your love to one another.
Today we are grateful for all those who have followedtheir hearts into nursing, and who care for people in their emotional, spiritual and physical need. We rejoice that you call nurses to develop new skills and master new technologies through nursing education and workplace continuous improvement. Thank you for all who teach nurses how to integrate their compassion with acommitment to innovation and best practiceClinical Practice Standards, and for the blessing of seeing this work making a real difference to people’s lives.
Lord Jesus Christ, in you we have the joy of life made whole and holy, and today we give thanks for the joy of whole and holy living.
We are grateful for nursing care that recognises and appreciates the individuality and importance of every patient, every resident, every client, and for hearts and minds open to meetingpeople’s real physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Especially we give thanks for times when nurses have been challenged and overburdened, yet have persisted with finding solutions to difficult behaviours, and calming the anguish of troubled souls.
Holy Spirit, in you the barriers that divide people are broken down, and relationships are renewed. Thank you for making known God’s desire for friendship with us all.
We praise you for the care that transcend the roles of nurse and client, for the deeply human encounters with many interesting and wonderful characters that make the vocation of nursing so fulfilling.
Especially we give thanks for family-friendly work environments. We are grateful for managers who continually communicate with staff, and whose support for their team develops relationships which are life-giving for all who work and are cared for throughout their organisation.
Father, Son and Spirit, how good it is for us to abide in your love. So it is with deep sorrow that we acknowledge how often your love is not at the heart of our lives.
We confess we have been frustrated by work systems that tie us up in procedures, and diminished by technologies that lose sight of the human person. Forgive us when our trust in things shuts us off from your love. We confess there are times when the darkness in other people’s lives is more than we can face, and we become stuck in our own pain. Forgive us when we fail to reach out for help in our times of weakness. We confess there are times of fear and confusion in our relationships with others, and we use our position to put a barrier between ourselves and others. Forgive us when we try to control life, and end up feeling lost and alone.
Forgive us for the ways we rely upon our own strength, and turn away from your love as the source of truth and peace for our lives. In your tender mercy, fill our lives again with your love, so that we may worship you with a grateful heart as our trusted friend and companion. Amen.
This prayer is based upon stories of nurses working in Uniting Aged Care Victoria and Tasmania.