Agents of Shalom: A Reformed Perspective in Nursing Care

In many countries today, the practice of health care has become a complicated system of services. The notion of health prevalent in this system is that of catering to physical needs and functions. The role of healthcare professionals becomes a function of this system. This runs against the experience and the worldview of many that professional systems and practices can never be morally and existentially neutral. Traditionally, health care and in particular nursing care have been understood as an element of fostering human flourishing. The question arises: what is lost when health care is no longer thus understood? In this article, the ‘raison d’etre’ of nursing care is explored by highlighting the Judeo-Christian notions of health and care as elements of shalom. The meaning of this concept is illuminated by recent nursing literature. Furthermore, Alasdair MacIntyre’s analysis of ‘social practices’ explains how such a concept runs deep in the capillaries of health care practices like nursing care. It is argued how shalom permeates nursing’s professional values (what nurses aim for), norms (how nurses ought to act), and virtues (who nurses ought to be). This ‘DNA’ of nursing care can combine professional clinical language with religious-moral language, enriching its understandings of health, care, and professional identity.