Nurses of an evangelical faith reiterate their dedication to spreading their beliefs through healthcare service provision.
In the picturesque town of Marín, Pontevedra, Spain, the Spanish Christian Nursing group recently held its 19th national gathering. The event, a testament to the group's enduring commitment to compassionate healthcare, marked the first time it took place on Galician soil.
The gathering was designed to foster fellowship and mutual knowledge within the group, and to draw up a new strategic plan for the coming years. The Spanish Christian Nursing group, which brings together nurses from all over Spain and has links with the international movement, aims to contextualize and express three key values: excellence, integrity, and stewardship.
The three-day event was packed with a variety of organized activities. These included a world-cafe, several seminars, group dynamics, times of worship and prayer, evening activities with different themes, an excursion to visit a nearby archaeological site, and more. The chosen motto for the event was Finisterrae, meaning "to the ends of the earth," reflecting the group's global outreach and mission.
Speakers at the event, such as Fernando Plou, director of the Preaching Workshop ministry in Spain, emphasized the importance of Christian nurses being light and salt, living their faith in the midst of a challenging social context. They underscored the need for nurses to remain firm in their faith amidst ethical and bioethical changes, a sentiment echoed by María López-Parra, vice-president of the group.
Moncho Lagos, a nurse working in Pontevedra, emphasized nursing as a mission, collaborating with God to accompany a good death and defend human life. He highlighted the group's focus on bioethics, which aligns with Christian values such as respect for life, dignity, and the avoidance of harm. This would involve ethical considerations in healthcare that prioritize patient autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice, all viewed through the lens of Christian doctrine.
The group, born in the 1980s with encouragement from a Scottish midwife living in Madrid, has been holding national meetings since 2010. As Christian nursing faces challenges such as maintaining its ethical integrity in a secularizing healthcare environment and addressing global health disparities, it also presents opportunities for interfaith dialogue and collaboration, promoting a deeper understanding of bioethical issues across diverse religious and cultural backgrounds.
[1] For further information on the historical role of Catholic orders in healthcare in Spain, see [Historia de la medicina en España](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historia_de_la_medicina_en_Espa%C3%B1a) on Wikipedia.
[3] For more on the role of European missionaries and orders in the spread of Christianity and healthcare globally, see [Catholic Healthcare in the United States: The Transatlantic Dimension](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92760/) on the National Library of Medicine's website.
- Recognizing the international roots of the Spanish Christian Nursing group, it seeks to integrate health-and-wellness practices with scientific advancements in nursing, aligning with the historical role of Catholic orders in healthcare.
- To address global health disparities and foster interfaith dialogue, the group aims to encompass science and evidence-based healthcare within its strategic plan for excellence, integrity, and stewardship in the realm of health-and-wellness and nursing.
