Audacious hospitality: nursing in the time of COVID-19

ABSTRACT

This theological reflection is based on my experience as a nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper I reflect on nursing as a hospitable practice, and examine the unique challenges which impact the provision of hospitable care during this pandemic. Hospitable nursing care is grounded in the hospitality of God as demonstrated through the healing care of Jesus, and in historical examples of Christian care of the sick during past epidemics. The paper examines the tensions experienced by nurses between adhering to protocol and extending hospitality. It concludes that while nursing during a pandemic is fraught with challenges, these can be overcome by a conviction that caring for one’s patient is rooted in the hospitality modeled by Jesus. The commitment to maintain proximity and touch, the gift of presence and life-giving words continue to be priorities for the nurse, especially during a pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• Nursing
• hospitality
• pandemic
• COVID-19

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to acknowledge the constructive feedback of James B. Gould, Dr. Rebecca Idestrom, and Dr. Phil Zylla in reviewing this paper. She also acknowledges Luisa King, friendand nursing colleague, who not only provided helpful insights regarding nursing and hospitality, but who also models audacious hospitality in her nursing practice.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament place high value on the practice of hospitality. Within these texts we find both injunctions to practice hospitality (Lev 19.9-10, 33–34; Deut 10:19; Rom 12:13; Heb 13:2; 1 Pet 4:9) and paradigmatic hospitality narratives such as Abraham’s welcome of the strangers (Gen. 18.1-15) and the hospitality extended by both Peter and Cornelius (Acts 10–11:18) which inform and shape the practice.

2 Spiritual needs are fundamentally related to the need for meaning and hope. While the nurse is not a chaplain who administers religious rites, the nurse does address these fundamental needs through the therapeutic relationship making spiritual care a part of patient care (Thanks to James B. Gould for this insight).

3 Catton, https://www.icn.ch/news/more-600-nurses-die-covid-19-worldwide. See also ICN press release from October 28, 2020 which now puts the number of nurses dead at 1, 500. However, the ICN estimates the number at closer to 20, 000 as only 44 countries from the world’s 195 countries provided data on the number of nurses dead: https://www.icn.ch/news/icn-confirms-1500-nurses-have-died-covid-19-44-countries-and-estimates-healthcare-worker-covid.

4 Davies and Allison (1988–1997, 242). See Isa. 26.19; 29.18; 35.5-6; 42.7,18; 61.1.

5 An in-depth exploration of the ethics of hospitality goes beyond the scope of this paper. For an excellent review, see Wrobleski (2012).

6 Wrobleski (2012, 53–65). See also Pohl (1999, 170–187).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Beth Gould Nolson

Beth Gould Nolson is a Registered Nurse who works in the Women and Babies Program at a large academic hospital in Toronto, Canada. She has extensive church ministry experience that includes lay pastoring, teaching, and leadership roles. She received her MDiv from Tyndale Seminary (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) and is presently in the Doctor of Practical Theology program at McMaster Divinity College (McMaster University), Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Her research interest is in domestic hospitality as a missional practice.