For nurses, medical care often involves spiritual questions and ethical considerations. To better equip them for the reality of interacting with patients and their families, Concordia University Irvine includes an extra dimension of theological and ethical training to its popular Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program through three required courses: Bioethics; Foundations of Christian Theology; and History and Literature of the New Testament.
The result: nursing professionals who serve patients with greater confidence and spiritual depth in critical moments.
“A nurse is right in between a physician and a pastor, is how I put it,” says Dr. Mark Brighton ’81, who designed two of the three required courses. “What I try to accomplish with these courses is to give students a sense of vocation under Christ; to be involved in the healing and strengthening of their patients; to give them a larger worldview of what they do — not just taking blood pressure and giving shots and being a doctor’s assistant, but understanding that they as a nurse are involved in holistic healing.”
Brighton is one of several theology faculty members who teach courses in the ABSN program. The American Nurses Association’s code of ethics addresses the spiritual needs
of patients, and many hospitals require nurses to perform spiritual assessments with patients, taking them through personal questions to arrive at a comprehensive plan of care.
But, says Nursing Program Director Cheryl Smythe-Padgham, many incoming students haven’t developed the skill of having spiritual or ethical conversations with patients or patients’ families.
“A theological base allows students not only to explore their own faith and spirituality but to feel comfortable talking to patients and families who bring up topics like faith, God, or dying,” Smythe-Padgham says. “Here at Concordia, we have a very specific definition of spiritual care and what a Christian nurse looks like, and we’re blessed to have theology experts give students that Christian, Lutheran foundation and framework in which they can deal with ethical dilemmas they will be faced with in their careers.”
That approach connects directly to the mission of Concordia University Irvine.
“We are guided by the Great Commission of Jesus Christ which is to go teach all nations and make disciples of all people,” says Brighton. “We do that with a Lutheran understanding of the faith. Jesus is using your activities, words, and how you approach people to bring not just human strength but spiritual strength. Our students represent ultimate healing and the presence of Jesus to people. When you do that, your actions take on eternal significance.”
Rachelle Kurimay, whose husband is a pastor, enrolled in Concordia’s ABSN program after having served in the church for more than two decades, by visiting people in hospitals, and leading everything from women’s ministries to junior high and young adults programs. She chose Concordia’s nursing program because of its whole person approach.
“It was important to me to be part of a school grounded in biblical principles as to how to care for people and love them well,” Kurimay says. “I love theology and don’t think you can separate our role as Christians from serving people. The two go hand in hand.”
She found the Bioethics class, taught by Bryan Ballard, a Concordia philosophy professor, particularly enlightening as she and her classmates considered and discussed ethical issues and situations nurses encounter.
“No questions were off the table,” says Kurimay. “Dr. Ballard did such an amazing job of walking us through a situation or problem ethically. These were complex issues and moral problems you face in health care.”
Concordia’s education emphasizes that patients — and all people — are made by God and bear his likeness, she says.
“Why are we advocating for our patients? Why do they have value? We know they have value because they were created in the image of God, and Jesus came and died for us while we were yet sinners,” Kurimay says. “I found it valuable to reiterate that we’re here to speak for those who can’t for themselves. Why? Because they have a purpose, and we do, too.”
Kurimay graduated in December 2024 and recently accepted a job at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Orange.
“I feel like Concordia did a really good job preparing us,” she says.
She also believes the medical field is “more than ever accepting of faith-based care.” Hospitals often have ethics committees made up of staff members from different disciplines, who explore ethical dilemmas that arise and help guide their institutional decision-making.
“There is an understanding that you can’t just treat the physical person but have to see the person as body, mind and spirit,” Kurimay says. “[Medical professionals] recognize the connection. Nursing isn’t just science; it’s a calling to serve God and serve others.”
A major aspect of that calling is turning people from despair.
“A nurse is not just a technician but someone who is involved in holistic healing which, from a Christian point of view, is not just healing your body but your soul,” says Brighton. “We are of the conviction that full spiritual and physical healing only comes through Christ, the Son of Man, who will re-create all of us. Along the way we are in a broken world where we battle illnesses, but at least we don’t want to be crushed in our spirits. A nurse who has a sense of how they fit into that vocation can help someone not have a crushed spirit and still find hope.”
Kurimay says she and her husband have often sat with patients and families when they received a bad diagnosis, and have never had someone decline prayer or spiritual conversation.
“They want assurance and comfort,” she says. “It’s a beautiful part of human connection when someone is in their most vulnerable moment and open to someone who cares.”
A well-rounded approach to nursing is one reason Concordia’s cohort-based ABSN, which has around 300 students at a given time, is esteemed in the field for producing nurses who excel in all aspects of the profession.
“We always get compliments back that the nurses we graduate are different,” says Smythe-Padgham. “I get lots of stories that we do a good job of making caring, compassionate nurses with all the knowledge and skills.”
Grounding each one in a spiritual and ethical understanding of the human experience enhances that training.
“If there is a crisis and you’re sitting in an emergency room and a patient or family opens the door and asks a spiritual question, we want our nurses to be able to go through that door with them,” Brighton says.