Following Jesus in Nursing

Lara: 00:03

Welcome to Following Jesus in Nursing, a podcast for nurses and students produced by InterVarsity's Nurses Christian Fellowship. I'm your host, Lara K. Kiser, and together, we'll be inspired by our guest stories, tackle big questions with experts in the field, and walk together in following Jesus at the intersection of faith and nursing.

Bethany: 00:26

And I remember reading Scripture with her and just having this clear picture of the Lord saying like, hey, I care a lot more about who you are than what you do.

Lara: 00:44

Welcome back y'all. What if you entered each shift thinking, where is Jesus already at work here? Where is he in each room that I step into? And how can I join in with his work through prayer and action? I am so excited for you all to meet our guest today, Bethany Miller.

Lara: 01:02

I really appreciated how in tune and ready she is to jump in with whatever Jesus is up to around her. So let's get right into her stories of prayer and more on the floor. Welcome, Bethany. I'm delighted to meet you and look forward to hearing your story today. Thanks for joining me.

Bethany: 01:20

Yeah. Thanks for having me.

Lara: 01:22

Could you start off with a little introduction of yourself so that we can get a sense of the person behind the voice?

Bethany: 01:29

Yeah. So, my name is Bethany Miller. I live in Richmond, Virginia, with my husband and my daughter. She's 15 months old as of the time we're recording this. I went to VCU Nursing School for my undergrad, and then I work at VCU's hospital. That's Virginia Commonwealth University for those non-Virginians listening in.

Lara: 01:50

Awesome. And what is your current role in nursing?

Bethany: 01:54

I work on an internal medicine step down unit, so it's a little bit of everything. It can be wild at times. We get a lot of nursing students. We get a lot of new grad nurses. Any and every disease process you can imagine. So it's definitely busy, and just a lot of, like, coming and going, different things.

Lara: 02:13

Great. What is your connection point, or what have your connection points with NCF been over the years and currently?

Bethany: 02:20

Not only do I work as a nurse, but I'm also on staff with NCF in Virginia. So I, as a student, when I was in nursing school, was involved with InterVarsity. And, it really just changed my life, changed my relationship with the Lord so much. So I was very involved, and I started leading a small group for freshmen during my sophomore year. But as many of the people listening to this know, that becomes a lot more challenging once you start nursing school.

Bethany: 02:49

So I felt my time shift, and the time I was spending with my nursing classmates was a lot more. And with the time I had to give to the freshmen and the other people, like, in the normal chapter was getting more difficult. And along with that, I just started to really have a heart for my classmates and seeing them come to know Jesus. And so I was stuck between these two worlds, kinda trying to reconcile, like, how am I gonna be involved in InterVarsity? I just wish that something different existed for them.

Bethany: 03:19

And I met an NCF staff at a camp, named Miriam, and I found out that she had a chapter of all nursing students. And I was like, why don't you work at my school? That would be amazing. And then the Lord was like, yeah. That's because you're gonna start that at your school.

Bethany: 03:37

So I ended up starting a small group for nursing students. And then when I went to graduate, where it really felt like the Lord wasn't done using me with nursing students, so I worked with our area director and came on staff part time with InterVarsity. And so that's my connection and what I'm still doing today.

Lara: 03:55

Wow. I love that. I love that. That you're like, why don't we have it here? Well, you're looking in the mirror at the person who's starting it.

Bethany: 04:05

Like, no. That can't be right.

Lara: 04:09

And then, you all just hosted a retreat recently. Right? Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Bethany: 04:14

Yeah. So we just hosted a retreat for students in Virginia. We had VCU students and students from Shenandoah University come. Yeah. It was a good time. It was nice to meet some of the people that I've only talked to, like, over the phone or online, actually getting to see the students in person and having them connect over their very similar experiences of being a nursing student even though they go to different schools. And our theme was Rejuvenate, and just wanted it to be a time of relaxing and getting to kind of feel rejuvenated in their own walk with the Lord. And I think that we really accomplished that goal. So, yeah, it was it was really nice.

Lara: 04:53

Awesome. Well, I would love to hear just a little bit of your origin story as a nurse who followed Jesus. So what were some of, like, the key moments in your life that brought you here, to this point of being in nursing and following the Lord?

Bethany: 05:08

Yeah. So I always knew I wanted to go into the medical field. My parents are both physical therapists. So at first, I was like, okay. I'll be a physical therapist. And then I got to high school and took an anatomy class and realized that I absolutely hated bones and muscles. And so being a physical therapist just wasn't gonna work out after that. Like, I was, this is not it for me. So I kinda had to figure out what was next, and I fortunately went to a high school where they had a special program where it was partnered actually with VCU because I grew up in Richmond. And they went through all the different health professions, and you got to hear speakers from the different ones and go visit the colleges and do little, like, labs and experiments.

Bethany: 05:55

And I just fell in love with the nursing one. I just loved how personal it was, how much time you got to spend with the patients, how you're just kinda, like, their connection point to anything, especially in patient nursing. And so from that moment on, I was, this is gonna be great. I'm gonna go to nursing school. That's pretty much what I did. I, yeah, went to VCU, got into their program. Yeah. I just love the hospital. I don't think I really knew what being a nurse was fully until I was in nursing school.

Speaker 2: 06:29

I think I had an idea, but I was blown away by how deeply personal it is. And how much of a privilege it is that people let you into the hardest and best moments of their lives. Like, you know, you're there when people take their first breath and their last breath. Like, a lot of people say that, and I don't work with babies.

Bethany: 06:52

So I'm not usually there for the first breath.

Lara: 06:55

Well, you just have one.

Bethany: 06:57

I just have one. Yeah. But, yeah, it's an honor to get to be there and to get to be someone who sees a person as a person. Yeah. And that just always, like, really struck me.

Bethany: 07:08

So that's how I got to nursing. As far as being a Christian nurse, I grew up in a Christian family and have great parents that told us about the Lord from an early age and just gave us a heart for what it looks like to follow him. Yeah. I think definitely throughout high school, I was not involved. We were not involved in a great church.

Bethany: 07:26

Like, not to my parents' fault. They were trying their best to help see that church become more healthy, but in the process, it was just a very hard environment for me. It was a place where they didn't really talk about what it meant for there to be grace and forgiveness, and it was more just about what can you do to, like, make God love you. I think I carried a lot of that into college. So when I got involved with InterVarsity, it was just very different.

Bethany: 07:53

And I joined InterVarsity because I was like, oh, I wanna be the good Christian student going to college. Like, I guess I should join this organization. And I started meeting with one of our staff named Elizabeth. And throughout our meetings just really came to realize, like, she was sharing with me things that were difficult in her life and being really authentic when we were reading Scripture together. And I was just like, aren't you the leader of this thing? Aren't you not supposed to be telling me all this stuff? You're supposed to be keeping track of me? And she just wasn't. And I remember reading Scripture with her and just having this clear picture of the Lord saying like, hey, I care a lot more about who you are than what you do.

Lara: 08:33

Wow.

Bethany: 08:34

And that just rocked my world. That changed everything for me. And so a lot into my sophomore year was unpacking, like, what does that mean? And how do I kind of undo a lot of the lies I had believed about who God was? And how do I reconcile, Jesus cares about who I am and not just, like, what I can do for him. Yes, he wants to use me and, like, work through me. He can't love me any less, and he also can't love me any more. And I think that was a big realization for me, and put me in a place where I was like, alright, Lord. Whatever you want me to do, I'm willing to do.

Lara: 09:08

That's beautiful. And how do you apply that piece of learning to your practice of nursing? Because nursing is a lot about doing. So how do you see those things going together?

Bethany: 09:21

I think that's taken me, like, a while to figure out, even as I have become a nurse. All growing up and, you know, I was like, I'm gonna go move to another country and just be a nurse because this is the hardest thing I can do. And, like, exactly, this can't be a bad idea. This is definitely what Jesus has for me.

Bethany: 09:42

Like, I need to get out of Richmond. And I think the Lord is was very gracious to me in that, but also just continually told me, hey. The least of these are right down the street from you. The nations are at your doorstep in Richmond. These people are here. I've given you this right down the street. And so I think that has been, like, a big realization for me of every single day, I am meeting these people and taking care of people, whether it's my patients or my coworkers that are hurting and broken and need Jesus. And so I think for me, yes, I'm gonna go to the people who need me the most, but Jesus is like, hey. I'm just asking you to go to the people who you're around.

Bethany: 10:26

So I think that's where I get the, like, okay. It's not necessarily what I do. It's just being faithful to what Lord has put right in front of my eyes, right in front of me to be faithful in.

Lara: 10:36

Yeah. And that's a big part of who we are. I think it's our place in the world, where we live, where we're from, the community right around us. I love that. Well, I wanna keep hearing some stories because I know y'all nurses have so many cool stories to share. So what have been some moments of joy for you in following Jesus in nursing?

Bethany: 10:57

Yeah. I've been thinking about this because I saw your question. I'm like, oh, I have to narrow them down.

Lara: 11:04

Feel free to share a few.

Bethany: 11:06

Yeah. So I think, one that came to mind immediately was I was working a night shift, and I had this patient who was just super anxious. And no one had been able to, like, calm her down. She was off the charts anxious. The type of person where you go into the room and you're like, do I have anxiety?

Bethany: 11:25

Because I feel anxious because you are so anxious. Wow. Like, contagious. Yeah, not good.

Bethany: 11:31

And she had gotten some negative test results, and so I think that was really fueling a lot of it. And she was just telling me how stressed she was. And then she was like, I just need someone to be praying for me. And I kinda looked at her.

Bethany: 11:45

I was like, okay. She's like, will you be praying for me? And I was like, yeah. Do you wanna do that right now? And she was, oh, I've been waiting for this. Yes. I just need someone to do that right now. And so I was just in there for 20 minutes, and me and her were praying. And then she said, I feel so much better. I feel so much more at peace. I feel so much more calm.

Bethany: 12:09

Yeah. And her opening that door and feeling like the spirit be like, yep. You're gonna jump on that right there. I think it was such a joy.

Lara: 12:16

I love that. I love that you actually prayed with her on the spot right there out loud. That's instead of, you know, some of us just if we're busy or something, you could have easily been like, I have other tasks to complete and other patients to see. I'll be praying for you. Bye.

Bethany: 12:31

Yeah. Yeah.

Lara: 12:32

I just I love that you took the time to do that with her right there.

Bethany: 12:35

Yeah. So that was a really cool moment of joy. Another one that comes to mind is actually when I was in nursing school. So I had had a very hard semester, this particular semester, and just just felt like I was having a hard time seeing the Lord be faithful in things and, like, follow through on promises that he had made. Not just to me, but to others around me.

Bethany: 13:01

So I had this very just a difficult life circumstance at that point. And I was doing a rotation on the mother-infant unit, which we've already established is not my thing. So I did not love kids, not super into helping them enter the world. But I had a patient, and she did not know she was pregnant until she arrived at the hospital and was in labor, which still blows my mind.

Lara: 13:29

Wow. Isn't there, like, a TV show about that or something?

Bethany: 13:32

There is. And I'm still, to this day, shocked that it happens after, like, going through the experience myself. But yeah. It does. My instructor is like, denial is a very powerful thing. So she had this baby, and she had now, like, been recovering. And she was just like, I don't know what I'm gonna do with this kid. I was not expecting a have a baby. She was young. She was not in a place to have a child.

Lara: 13:59

Wow.

Bethany: 14:00

And so she was like, I just need some time to rest and think. Can you take the baby? Because no like, normally, the babies now stay in the room with the moms.

Bethany: 14:10

And so I was like, yeah. Sure. So for 12 hours, me and this baby were just together, and I, you know, watched her turn one day old. And I just prayed for her, and I was just so heartbroken over the fact that I didn't know what's gonna happen to this beautiful little girl. It was just really tough.

Bethany: 14:28

So I was, like, praying for her. I was just praying that, you know, she would be loved, and she would have people who could point her to the Lord and all that good stuff. And so I left for the day, and then you just don't know what's gonna happen to the patients. That's a big part of nursing too. So you just kinda have to, like, let it be up to the Lord.

Bethany: 14:47

And I had told my mom and my sister about this baby just because it was so on my heart. I just, like, could not get this little girl off of my mind. So I kinda sat there for a couple weeks. And then, 2 weeks later, out of the blue, my sister calls me. And she's like, hey, Bethany. I have some questions for you. I was like, okay. And she's like, yeah. That baby that you were holding a couple weeks ago, did she already have a name? Was her name Eva? And I just was stopped dead in my tracks because that's what the mom had named the baby. And I was like, yes. And I just hear crying on the other end of the phone. And my sister's small group leader from church said to me, Bethany, this is Britney on the phone. You were holding my baby. And I found out that, they were in the process of adopting, and the mom had picked them to adopt this little girl.

Lara: 15:42

Wow.

Bethany: 15:43

And so well, they were all crying on the phone.

Lara: 15:47

Yeah. I'm crying.

Bethany: 15:48

They're like yeah. And so this girl, this little sweet baby that I prayed over and journaled about was going to a family that I knew would love her and care for her and point her to the Lord. And I felt like in that moment, the Lord just saying, I am so faithful. This is how I do hear your prayers. I do take care of you. Just like I took care of Eva, I will take care of everything else, whether you get to see it or not. And so just a huge moment of joy, a huge moment of getting to see the Lord, like, move in a very personal and powerful way that I'll never forget. So now this little girl is 6 years old, and I've gotten to see her grow up and be in a family, and it's absolutely beautiful.

Lara: 16:36

That is just a wild, incredible story. And it really strikes me that you, you know, I think a lot of people think of spiritual disciplines or things that grow them in their faith. Maybe these, like, you plan a retreat or you go to an event or something, and you just showed up as a student to your clinical rotation. Right? And you just held a baby and prayed for 12 hours.

Lara: 17:05

And that is how the Lord has spoken to you and shown his promises to you. That is incredible on so many levels. Thanks for sharing that. And, we'll kinda turn to some more stories about how has Jesus met you in some of the hardest moments of nursing.

Bethany: 17:26

Yeah. So, you know, we're taking a real a real 180 here. I know. As much as I feel like there is so much joy and special moments in nursing, there's a lot of hard stuff.

Bethany: 17:38

Yeah. I think of 2 things, and I'll start with one because I feel like it's just a relatable thing, and then I'll end with something that I feel like is a little bit more applicable. So the first thing I feel like would obviously be recently going through COVID as a nurse. So my unit is an inpatient medicine step down unit. COVID's kinda like our thing.

Bethany: 18:06

And step down means that you're not the ICU, but you're not the general floor. So you live in this very gray area. And in COVID, that gray area just got, like, way more gray. Wow. And it was it was an incredibly stressful time.

Bethany: 18:26

I mean, you're going in the first I remember the progression of, like, okay. We think there might be this virus, and then the first patient arriving, and just not knowing what was gonna happen and not knowing are these people all gonna, like am I gonna walk in and is everyone gonna die today? Like because that's kind of how how it felt like it was going at some points. So it was just very stressful. It was very difficult. I felt like I was at the end of myself. I had my friends who were like, quarantine's great. we all get to stay home and hang out with each other, and we're quarantining with our friend group. And I was like, well, I'm at the hospital trying to keep people alive. This isn't really fun for me.

Bethany: 19:19

It just felt like a lot more real. And I think, you know, as it went on, like, obviously, it's not what it was 3 years ago, which is wonderful. But, yeah, it was really stressful. And I think in that time, the only thing that gave me any sort of, like, comfort was knowing that at the end of the day, Jesus knows what's gonna happen. Jesus knows what my day is gonna look like. Jesus knows, like, which patients are not gonna make it. Jesus knows which ones are gonna make miraculous recoveries. And that anything that I do or don't do, Jesus already knows. And so I think that really anchored me and put me in a place where I was able to not only take care of patients, but also my coworkers. I think as much as I felt unsettled and anxious in my own heart. Like, I felt like I had the tools to deal with that in a way that a lot of my coworkers did not. And so, you know, I felt like I was going crazy inside, but looked like cool as a cucumber to some of these other other people. And so I think being able to be that presence on the unit and be like, hey. You know?

Bethany: 20:38

It's okay. And then that opens up a lot of doors. Like, why are you feeling calm? Why does this not freak you out? Why are you not scared to go in these rooms or scared that you might get COVID or all of those things?

Bethany: 20:54

Yeah. I think it's definitely something that was a really hard moment and very challenging. And I think I'm still unpacking a lot of what that's meant, how it's changed you know, the whole nursing as a whole. But I think, like, being able to see the Lord moving in that and working through me to be the only people that my coworkers and patients saw some days, yeah, was a really meaningful experience that I think is still showing some effects even now in the relationships that I have on my unit.

Bethany: 21:42

Yeah. I think it just really deepened a lot of connections that I had with my coworkers. At that point, like, I was one of the more senior nurses on the floor, I would say. Not the most senior, but, you know, there's still a lot of newer nurses coming in. And so I think when you're a new nurse, you obviously look for the people who have been doing this for a while. And so I think I have a lot of strong relationships with them that have now expanded outside of work and even outside of our unit. People who have moved on to other jobs or other places. But I still see those people regularly. And I think that is huge to me. It's like, okay. So even though we don't work together anymore, I still get to, like, speak into your life.

Bethany: 22:31

You still get to see how I live outside of work and what I do. And I think that's led to some very fruitful conversations about just faith and worldview and life that I don't think there would have been if there wasn't such a stressful time that really got us all pushed us to our breaking point and allowed us to really share, like, how we were feeling in a very authentic way.

Lara: 22:59

That's so true. When we reach the end of our limits, I feel like we're forced to reach out and ask for help and support. And it just brings out connection points and community that, you know, are rare outside of those moments that push us to our limits.

Lara: 23:16

You had another story?

Bethany: 23:19

Yeah. There's a time very early on in my career where I had experienced my first code situation. It's my first time where a patient stopped breathing, was unresponsive, and we had to resuscitate them. And sometimes, as far as codes go, like, not that any of them are good, but there are ones that end better and ones that go better than others. And this was probably the worst that it could have gone.

Bethany: 23:46

Like, there was just nothing that could have been done for this patient. And although we were, like, trying to do things, her situation kept getting worse. There was a lot of blood. The family was in the room the whole time. Like, there's just a lot of pieces of it that made it a very traumatic experience, I feel for everyone that was there that day.

Bethany: 24:05

And so I was a new nurse. I didn't know how to process this. Like, I was having a really hard time. And so I ended up calling someone an older nurse, who has been there before that's also a Christian and just cried to her. I was, I don't know what to do with this. I just don't know what's going on. And, she was like, I want you to take some time and just go sit quietly alone and try to imagine yourself back in that moment and try to see where was Jesus in that room. And so I did that, and I felt like I saw Jesus just being in the room very peacefully in control of the whole situation and comforting the family, comforting me and my coworkers. And so that is something that I've carried through my career when there's been a really hard situation. It's just taking the time to process that on my own and saying okay, Jesus.

Bethany: 25:04

Like, where were you in that room? Where can I see you? And it's been a really helpful tool to just be able to work through some of that.

Lara: 25:14

Yeah. That's so helpful and such great you're right, very applicable for anyone in nursing, especially new nurses who are facing, you know, their first codes. Things that are, you know, very scary like that. Well, before we got on here and started recording, you shared a little bit about just some concerns about the culture and field of nursing in this season. Could you share a little bit about those concerns and how you sense Jesus speaking into those spaces?

Bethany: 25:46

Yeah. I think it's tough out there right now. Yeah. For nurses, I'm not even gonna lie. I feel like I used to be like, everyone, it's so great to be a nurse.

Bethany: 25:57

And I still think that, but it's also really hard right now. Yeah. There's just a lot is changing. I think there's a lot of talk about really good things.

Bethany: 26:08

I will say the patients are a lot less thankful and a lot more aggressive. I think we deal with a lot more violence and aggression from patients, which has led to a lot of nurses being like, why do we have to put up with this? And I think the responsibilities of being a nurse keep increasing, and, you know, you hear people talk about all the time, like, the pay doesn't. So I think there's a lot of good change coming to those things. I think there's a lot of people working really hard to see those things change and to see the field grow in a way where we have to take care of less patients and, have more time to spend with them and are, like, compensated fairly.

Bethany: 26:52

But I think in order to get there, it's gonna take a lot of hard work and being in it still even when it's not glamorous. And so I see Jesus coming into that as I feel like that's very similar to the Christian life. Like, I think the Christian life is not always glamorous. It's not always, like, big things and big wins. Like being a Christian is just showing up every day and continuing to faithfully do what the Lord has asked you to do, and that's, like, kinda what nursing is right now. I haven't read the book, but I always hear people talk about the book, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. And I just feel like maybe that's all you need to know about the book. Even just the title is inspiring. Just the title. I'm like, this is okay. This is what being a Christian is. Yeah. Yeah.

Bethany: 27:41

So I think that that is where nursing is. I think it's going in a very positive direction, but I think being the person who's on the unit and able to be able to stay grounded and able to, you know, stand up for themselves, but not just get pushed over the edge and easily frustrated, easily just crippled with anxiety. Like, being able to give that to the Lord and continue to care for people to the best of your ability speaks volumes in a culture that is not it. That's not how people, like, deal with things.

Bethany: 28:17

Yeah. I think there's a lot of opportunity to just show who Jesus is and care for people who need to be cared for, even if it's not an ideal situation for yourself.

Lara: 28:29

Yeah. I don't know if I'll keep this part in the podcast, but I'm just curious. Why do you think patients are getting more aggressive, less grateful, I think, was how you worded it?

Bethany: 28:41

Yeah. I'm not sure. I think part of it is culture at large, and I think that it's taken a long time to get here. I think as health care has evolved and as our culture has gotten to a place where everything is quick and fast, a lot of the fixes for the problems that people come to the hospital are not quick and fast. And so I think that breeds a lot of, like, impatience.

Bethany: 29:14

I also think we have some big health disparity problems in our country where people just don't have the access to, like, good health literacy, good, nutrition. Like, if you don't know how to take care of yourself in the first place, you're gonna get diabetes. You're gonna have heart failure. All those things are gonna happen to you because we don't have the right resources and, like, environment for people to live in, to drop in a healthy way. So I think it's a lot of culture. I think it's a lot of things that are way bigger than, you know, one person can fix.

Bethany: 29:51

I don't know how we fix it. I just know it's a problem, and I think a lot of it is just, like, how our culture is, where it's heading. I think there's a lot of just fast, fast, fast. Like, I want this done now. I expect to be treated in this way. I expect to have everything I want right when I want it, and that's just not how the hospital works. It's really hard to explain that to people who think that's how the hospital should work.

Lara: 30:19

Or even how bodies work. I feel like We treat ourselves like machines that we just need to gas up and go and tweak this button or I don't know.

Bethany: 30:29

It's just not how it works.

Lara: 30:30

It's not how bodies work. That's not how we're built. Yeah. Well, I agree that it feels overwhelming. It feels you know, it feels tempting to ask, well, what do we do? How do we fix it? And I feel like with any huge massive tangle of a problem that's systemic and gargantuan, you know, the answer is, you know, to look to Jesus. Like, yes, we do need to take action, but we need bigger wisdom than what I know how to access on my own. So I'm curious.

Lara: 31:01

You've shared a couple of great spiritual practices already. I can tell you're very much a person of prayer. You've mentioned a few different ways that you pray regularly as part of your nursing practice. But what other spiritual practices help you seek wisdom in an overwhelming profession and stay spiritually grounded?

Bethany: 31:24

Yeah. I think, also, this has evolved a lot as I've gone through my career as I feel like most things do. I think the biggest thing I've learned is to take a lot of pressure off of myself to have very consistent rhythms. I think, like you usually hear people talk about spiritual discipline and spiritual rhythms, and they're like, every day, I wake up at 5, and I read my Bible. And I'm sitting here thinking, so what if I'm at work at 5 AM and go home at 7 AM some days, and then other days, I'm working in the daytime? It just, like, that's just not a realistic thing.

Lara: 32:08

Right.

Bethany: 32:09

As a nurse who works inpatient, which I think the vast majority of of nurses do, or even as a nursing student, like, you know, one day you're gonna drive 2 hours to your clinical and do that. And then the next day, you're gonna have class at a weird time. It's just hard to have something that looks consistent, like, what I feel like a lot of other people talk about. And so I think a lot of my spiritual growth over the past few years has been freeing myself from that and being like, okay. So this doesn't have to look the same every single day.

Bethany: 32:43

And so I have spent a lot more time and energy capitalizing on what it looks like on my days off to spend time in Scripture. Like, I have a a devotional book right now that I really am liking. That's a short little piece of Scripture to, like, reflect on and then a little commentary from the author. And the whole idea of the book it's called Fighting Words by Ellie Holcomb, who is also a singer, and I love her.

Bethany: 33:09

But the whole idea of the book is, like, we have Scripture that we're supposed to meditate on so that it pours out from our lives. And so that's why all the Scriptures are so short is because they're meant to be, like, thought about for a full day. And so I really enjoyed that and just you know, like, I don't have to read 3 chapters of Matthew today. I'm just gonna read these 2 verses and think about what that means for me all day long. And that has been so life giving for me.

Bethany: 33:36

And to just take the pressure off of myself of, like, I have a 12 hour a day today. When I'm not a morning person. I'm definitely not up an hour before I go in at 7 AM. I'm with you. But, like, the next day when I have the day off, like, sure. I'll get a cup of coffee and read my little devotional and have a nice morning. Also, like, on days I've worked, I've been trying to, I try to remind myself of those Scriptures from the days when I'm off. Or even just, like, certain Scriptures I feel like are more applicable to your day at work. I really like to think about Colossians 3:12, which says, Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. And thinking about those things and being, like, when I go into the room, no matter how I'm feeling, the Lord calls me to be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, and patient.

Bethany: 34:30

And I don't just get to decide that I'm not gonna be kind today because I'm not feeling it. Like, if the Lord is asking me to do that, okay. I need to figure out how to do that. So that helps me stay grounded and not in my emotions or in whatever throws of the day hold. Like, I'm more grounded and this is who I am.

Bethany: 34:47

This is what I'm here to do. It lets you kinda, like, let go of all the things that you can't control. Yeah. Also just being involved in my church and being around people who aren't nurses. I think sometimes we as nursing students and nurses can get in this little bubble where we think nobody understands what I go through as a nurse. But, like, your other friends understand what it's like to be human, and they understand what it's like to experience loss and hurt and frustration and anxiety and all of those things. And so I think just, yeah. Opening up to the others in my church and having that consistent community of people is so important and really, really grounding.

Lara: 35:32

Yeah. I love that. I love how your thoughts on spiritual practices kind of bring together some of the other themes that we've talked about today too, because you started out in the beginning sharing that a mentor cares more about who you are than what you can do. And I think spiritual practices can sometimes become so much about what we're doing. Like, am I, you know, checking off the box on my devotion or whatever?

Lara: 35:57

But when we see it as something that's just part of who we are, I'm a person who gets up on my days off and has coffee and sits with the Lord and sits in the Scripture. I'm a person who takes an opportunity to pray over a baby for 12 hours at my work shift. Like, you know, it's integrated with who we are. And that we're human. Like, we're not machines.

Lara: 36:19

We don't need to rush through. You know, it's not like there's a competition. Read 3 chapters a day, you know, so you can get to the end or something. We can, I mean, I've had seasons where I've lingered in a Scripture passage for a week or more just because it's so rich. It just keeps coming back up and the ways that it meditates in my life, just living out my day to day. It just, you know, just hasn't let go of me yet in a way. Yeah.

Lara: 36:45

Yeah. Well, Bethany, you've shared so much wisdom already. Any last pieces of advice that you'd like to share with nurses, students, or educators?

Bethany: 36:57

I would just say keep going. Like I said, it's hard out there right now. And I think obedience in the same direction. Long obedience in the same direction. Keep going.

Bethany: 37:07

Yeah. I think there is so much that the Lord can use you for, in your school, in your workplace, in your life. And I also just think about, like, we have the opportunity to interact with so many people who don't know Jesus on a day to day basis, and that's an incredible opportunity. And it's something to take seriously. And I'm not saying, you know, you have to go out to every single person you meet.

Bethany: 37:33

Like, do you know Jesus? But I think, you know, especially, your coworkers and classmates, like, people you're around all the time. There is a lot of relationship there, and I think that the Lord is wise about who he puts us around and gives us intentional people to interact with and build a relationship with and and build roots around. And so I think, yeah, just keep going. Take that seriously and take the opportunities that the Lord gives you because he will definitely give them.

Lara: 38:01

Yeah. Well, thank you so much, Bethany. This has just been a really rich conversation and I really appreciate you taking the time to share your stories and wisdom with us. Thank you.

Bethany: 38:12

Thanks for having me.

Lara: 38:19

When Bethany was a student, her campus leader told her, I care more about who you are than what you do. Wow. What a good word for all of us to hold on to. A big part of who Bethany is is a person of prayer. She shared story after story with us about her shifts being filled with prayer for her patients.

Lara: 38:40

She was constantly looking out for where Jesus was already in each room she entered. I hope you'll look out for that too on your next shift. Where is Jesus already at work in this room? And how can you join in through prayer? If you'd like to grow in prayer, check out our show notes for a link to our NCF Sunday night Zoom prayer meetings led by Christy Secor, our director of professional ministries.

Lara: 39:06

And as always, thanks for listening. Hey, thanks for joining us for another inspiring episode of Following Jesus in Nursing. We hope you've been encouraged and equipped in integrating your faith with your nursing practice. Be sure to check out our show notes for info about connecting with Nurses Christian Fellowship as well as links and resources mentioned in today's episode. And remember, as you go about your work as a nurse, you are not alone.

Lara: 39:47

Jesus is right there with you, guiding your steps and using you to bring healing to those in need. Thanks for listening to Following Jesus in Nursing, and may your faith continue to be a light in the world of healthcare.