In message <[log in to unmask]>, Ahmad Risk
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>My Practice has acquired an additional District Nurse.
>
>He asked me if he could affix a cross to the wall and to hold prayer
>meetings for staff and patients in one of the rooms.
>
I'd say no. Your surgery is not a house of worship and if your patients
reflect society at large they will come from many cultures and religions
(or no religion - for instance I'm a Jewish atheist!). So there is much
opprtunity for giving needless offence.
However you could take an evidence-based view and look at:
Byrd RC Positive therapeutic effects of intercessory prayer in a
coronary care population. Southern Medical Journal 1988;81:826-9
This is an RCT of 393 patients admitted to a coronary care unit who were
randomised to either be prayed for (by a "born again" Christian or
similar) or not. The doctors and patients were blinded as to who was in
the intervention group. 57 patients had refused consent to be entered
into the trial.
The "intercessors" who did the praying were simply given the patient's
name and prayed daily outside the hospital until the patients was
discharged. They were not supposed to contact the patients.
There were significant differences in congestive heart failure,
administration of diuretics, cardiopulmonary arrest, pneumonia,
antibiotics and intubation/ventilation in favour of the intervention
group. However there was no difference in 21 other "events" between the
two groups. On a scoring system of "good" "intermediate" and "bad"
outcomes, the intervention group also did significantly better. I can't
help thinking there is something dodgy in this, but on the results
presented in the paper I can't see what.
Cheers
Toby
--
Toby Lipman 7, Collingwood Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne. Tel
0191-2811060 (home), 0191-2437000 (surgery)
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