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We pulled from many traditions to give you prayers that we hope will work for any nurse of faith.
Find a prayer that’s helpful to you today from the list below.
And please, share a prayer from your own life in the comments.
First, a beginning of the day prayer:
Holy one, as we begin this day, I ask for your guidance.
With your divine hand, Inspire, lead and give thy wisdom.
Throughout this day, may your grace be ever present in this healing place.
Bless our team, our hospital, our unit, as we gather to help those in need,
Let not your help be far away.
We seek your strength and ask that you give spirit as we make decisions for the good.
God of love, teach us to give our best, to speak with love and act with courage.
May we be good stewards of all the gifts you have given. Amen.
Submitted by Rev. Larry L. Jackson
10 Patient Care Prayers
A prayer to help me care for my patients
A prayer for a tearful moment
A letting go prayer
A team prayer
To be a nurse prayer
A night nurse’s prayer
A prayer for when you lose a patient
Another prayer for when a patient dies
A dedication to care prayer
A prayer for the student nurse
8 Inner Strength Prayers
A prayer for guidance
A prayer for patience
A prayer for strength
A prayer for encouragement
A calming prayer
A healing prayer
A prayer to help you gain composure
A prayer for dealing with difficult coworkers
6 more prayers for throughout your day
A prayer to say in the shower
A prayer for your commute
A prayer for your coffee break
A prayer for your break time
A hand washing prayer
A sleep time prayer
Continue to a prayer to help me care for my patients
A prayer to help me care for my patients
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As I care for my patients today
Be there with me, Oh Lord, I pray.
Make my words kind—it means so much.
And in my hands place Your healing touch.
Let Your love shine through all that I do.
So those in need may hear and feel You.
Amen.
Continue to ‘A prayer for a tearful moment’
A prayer for a tearful moment
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Tears
God puts a tear in your eye…so that you can see a rainbow.
Author Unknown
Continue to a ‘Letting go prayer’
Letting go prayer
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God of Comfort,
Release me from the anger I feel in this moment.
You O Lord know my heart.
You O Lord know my fears, for I have been made by thy wondrous hand.
Yet in this moment, I feel betrayed, I feel misunderstood, I feel hurt!
Grant unto me the voice of reason and the soundness of mind to let go.
I can’t do it by myself, I need you, I need your guidance, I need your love.
Teach me to let go.
Teach me to reconcile my feelings and remove my selfish desire to inflict hurt and pain; for you have called me to a higher place.
I need your healing hand to move me forward, and forward will I go.
Release me from this stagnant posture, I pray, and empower me to look beyond the faults and misgivings of others.
Because of grace given, I will move forward; because you have forgiven, I will also forgive.
I will choose to let go of anxiety, of fear, of uncertainty and of hurt.
I choose to let go and seek your guidance this day. Rescue me, I pray. Amen.
Submitted by Rev. Larry L. Jackson
A team prayer
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When I feel out of control
I stop
Lift up my hands to heaven
I stop
Breathe
And believe
In this moment I remember to the whole. It is not about me, it is about WE
Oneness
I remember and I can breathe again and find my inner Power to grow through whatever
No matter what!
Rochelle Forrest, RN
createhealthnaturally.com
Continue to ‘To be a nurse prayer’
To be a nurse prayer
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To be a nurse is to walk with God,
Along the path that our Master trod;
To soothe the achings of human pain,
To faithfully serve for little gain,
To lovingly do the kindly deed,
A cup of water to one in need,
A tender hand on a fevered brow,
A word of cheer to those living now;
To reach the souls through its body’s woe
Oh, this is the way that God would go.
Oh, white-capped nurses with hearts so true,
Our Great Healer is working through you.
Author Unknown
Continue to ‘A night nurse’s prayer’
A night nurse’s prayer
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Walk with me Father throughout the long night.
Help me to perform each and every duty
to the best of my ability and for the
betterment of those for whom I care.
Let me not shy from any duty, nor perform it
any less thoroughly for want of supervision.
Grant me confidence in all my tasks
and wisdom with which to fulfill them.
Keep me alert and loyal to the cause to which
I am dedicated this night and in those to follow.
And above all, help me to remain faithful
not only to those dependent upon my
ministering, but to those who place in me their trust,
so that, at dawn, I may relinquish my post with
the glad thought that I have not only served
well in my appointment, but that I have
repaid in part the guidance and strength which
Thou provided throughout the night.
Copyright © Margaret C. Nelson, RN
From Praying Hands
Continue to ‘A prayer for when you lose a patient’
A prayer for when you lose a patient
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Most precious and loving God,
I pause in this moment, expressing my sadness and disbelief,
You O Lord gave me the gift of compassion, the skill and talent to minister, yet in this moment I feel the sadness and loss for the patient you allowed me to serve.
I pause in this moment and remember the subtle smile, the cheerful Hello and the whispers of thank you.
Be gracious O Lord
Allow the loving moments to linger, the pain to flee and the blessed assurance that your comfort is more than enough for me and the family members who have walked this road.
I have given it my all, and have shared in the healing process.
Strengthen as only you can, for I need your guidance. Lead me to a brighter day.
For I have touched your love, shared your creation and I am grateful for the tears in my eyes that allowed me to see the rainbow of a life you have given.
Bless, I pray, this day. Amen.
Submitted by Rev. Larry L. Jackson
Continue to ‘Another prayer for when a patient dies‘
Another prayer for when a patient dies
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Psalm 23
Holy One,
You care for me, I am content.
You lead me to still waters,
places of rest and renewal.
You guide me down the right path
to live a good life.
When I walk through a valley of deepest darkness
I fear no harm,
for you are with me.
Signs of your nearness
offer me support and comfort.
When faced with fear,
your love flows over me
and sustains me.
As I journey on, loving kindness finds me
each day of my life,
I come home to you.
Continue to ‘Dedication to care prayer‘
Dedication to care prayer
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Let me dedicate my life today
to the care of those
who come my way.
Let me touch each one
with healing hands
and the gentle art
for which I stand.
And when tonight
when the day is done.
Oh, let me rest in peace
if I have helped just one…
Teri Lynn Thompson, RN
Continue to ‘A student nurse’s prayer’
A student nurse’s prayer
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Lord: I know we go through this every day but please give me the knowledge as to why I actually wanted to go to nursing school.
Lord, give me the strength to make it through those boring three hour lectures without falling asleep.
Lord, please give me the patience to make it through twelve hour clinicals with instructors that can’t just give you the right answer and on the same note, give the nurses the ability to remember what it was like to be a student and give us just a little more respect.
Lord, give me the endurance to read all the assigned readings and be able to remember it when I am taking a test with four right answers.
Lord, give my family and friends the ability to realize I really am on the edge of insanity.
Finally, Lord, give me the vision to see that one day I will be a real nurse and I will never have to wear this ugly uniform again.
Author Unknown
Continue to ‘A prayer for guidance’
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I dedicate myself to thee,
O Lord, my God, this work I undertake
Alone in thy great name, and for thy sake.
In ministering to suffering I would learn
The sympathy that in thy heart did burn.
Take, then, mine eyes, and teach them to perceive
The ablest way each sick one to relieve.
Guide thou my hands, that e’en their touch may prove
The gentleness and aptness born of love.
Bless thou my feet, and while they softly tread
May faces smile on many a sufferer’s bed.
Touch thou my lips, guide thou my tongue,
Give me a work in sermon for each one.
Clothe me with patience, strength all tasks to bear,
Crown me with hope and love, which know no fear,
And faith, that coming face to face with death
Shall e’en inspire with joy the dying breath.
All through the arduous day my actions guide,
All through the lonely night watch by my side,
So I shall wake refreshed, with strength to pray,
Work in me, through me, with me, Lord, this day.
Author Unknown
Continue to ‘A prayer for patience’
A prayer for patience
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Dear Lord,
Give to me the patience
That I shall need each day—
The tenderness and caring
For those who come my way.
Give me understanding—
I need it, God, so much.
Put in my hands and in my heart
Your gentle, loving touch.
Make my ears, my eyes, my thoughts—
Every day aware
That I can keep my pledge
With You to help me care.
Amen
Helen Marie Zell
Continue to ‘A prayer for strength’
A prayer for strength
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Dear Lord, Thou great healer
Dear Lord,
Thou great healer,
May thy great strength and power
Flow through me and lend skill to my hand,
Vision and judgment to my mind, and
Compassion to my heart.
Grant me the strength to minister to my fellow man
In his hours of suffering and travail.
Make me worth, Lord, of this saintly task, and
May I faithfully discharge my duties in deep humility,
Worthy of the trust and faith placed in me.
Amen
Author unknown
Continue to ‘A prayer for encouragement’
A prayer for encouragement
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Give to my eyes
light to see those in need.
Give to my heart
compassion and understanding.
Give to my mind
knowledge and wisdom.
Give to my hands
skill and tenderness.
Give to my ears
the ability to listen.
Give to me Lord
strength for this selfless service
and enable me to bring joy to
the lives of those I serve.
Author Unknown
Continue to ‘A calming prayer’
A calming prayer
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Breathing in I calm my body
breathing out I smile
dwelling in the present moment
I know this is the only moment available for me to live
Thich Nhat Hanh
Continue to ‘A healing prayer’
A healing prayer
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May the One who blessed our ancestors –
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah –
bless and heal the one who is ill.
May the Holy Blessed One
overflow with compassion
to restore
to heal
to strengthen
to enliven.
May The Holy One send, speedily,
a complete healing –
healing of the soul and healing of the body –
along with all the ill,
among the people of the world,
soon,
speedily,
without delay.
Amen.
Mi Sheberach
Continue to ‘A prayer to help you gain composure’
A prayer to help you gain composure
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Psalm 106
As we withdraw our projections
Upon others,
Balance and harmony adorn us.
Continue to ‘A prayer for dealing with difficult coworkers’
A prayer for dealing with difficult coworkers
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Help me respond to those who mistreat me by returning kindness and love to them.
Psalm 78
Yes, streams came out of the rock,
and caused waters to flow down
like rivers.
Continue to ‘A prayer to say in the shower’
A prayer to say in the shower
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Psalm 78
Recall how the rocks in the wilderness
cracked open
that you might drink your fill
as from the deep.
Continue to ‘A prayer for your commute’
A prayer for your commute
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Isaiah 42:16
By roads you did not know
I will make you travel
Down highways unknown
I will protect you without fail.
Continue to ‘A prayer for your coffee break’
A prayer for your coffee break
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Isaiah 43:4
I have called you by name,
You are mine…
You are precious in my sight,
And honored, and I love you.
Continue to ‘A prayer for your break time’
A prayer for your break time
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Psalm 68
Blessed is the One who
Daily bears us up;
The comforter who leads us
To wholeness.
Continue to ‘A hand washing prayer’
A hand washing prayer
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Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the wind,
Whose breath gives life to all the world,
Hear me; I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may understand the things you have taught my people.
Help me to remain calm and strong in the face of all that comes towards me.
Let me learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock.
Help me seek pure thoughts and act with the intention of helping others.
Help me find compassion without empathy overwhelming me.
I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest enemy MYSELF.
Make me always ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes.
So when life fades, as the fading sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame.
Cherokee Purification Prayer
Continue to ‘A sleep time prayer’
A sleep time prayer
Image: Julian Ward | Flickr | Getty Images
Psalm 91
You shelter me under your wings
I shall not fear
The shadows of the night.
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Thank you for these prayers!!! I generally say my own! Sometimes the words are hard to come! These will make it easier! I appreciate these! Especially this one!