I joined a prominent clinic after spending several years in school training to be a nurse. Most of my classmates were hoping to land positions with hospitals, the traditional employers of nursing graduates, although a few were looking to nursing homes, which have been identified as a major opportunity in our field with the aging population. I was raised in a Christian household and I took a slightly different approach when it came to practicing my trade. If Jesus was willing to help lepers when no-one else wanted to be anywhere near them, how could I follow his example and practice nursing among society’s outcasts? After some searching and considering options like following his lead literally and traveling to a third world medical clinic to volunteer my services, I opted for what I felt was a very close modern equivalent: helping recovering addicts to heal. My family was a little shocked at my choice, but when I explained the parallels, they fully supported me. After all, who needs help more but is subject to public scorn the way that drug addicts are? They’re blamed for their problem, accused of moral weakness, blamed for crimes and held up as the poster children for everything that’s wrong with our modern world. So I signed on and showed up for my first day at the clinic. By the end of that day I was second guessing my decision and after a week I was finished. I could not deal with the treatment programs and the methodology the clinic practiced. It seemed to me that the patients were dehumanized and treated as â€cases,†not as individual human beings. The counselors kept an emotional distance between themselves and the patients and when I asked why they did this, I was told that it was needed to prevent staff from becoming depressed and feeling responsible when the patients relapsed and showed up again in six months. It was all very clinical and very scientific, but there was something missing -a spiritual component. I very nearly gave up on nursing altogether but for a tip from one of the physicians. He pointed me to an â€alternative†facility, the rehab clinic where I have worked for the past decade. Emphasizing traditional Christian values and incorporating key components of our faith (like hope, forgiveness, faith and perseverance); this center embraces patients and combines addiction treatment therapies with the support of Christian faith. It’s a combination that works wonders for both patients and staff.
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