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Nightingale's spiritual philosophy and its significance for modern nursing
Author(s) -
Macrae Janet
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
image: the journal of nursing scholarship
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.009
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1547-5069
pISSN - 0743-5150
DOI - 10.1111/j.1547-5069.1995.tb00806.x
Subject(s) - prayer , spirituality , mysticism , consciousness , philosophy , conviction , transpersonal , incarnation , epistemology , human spirit , meditation , psychology , law , theology , medicine , political science , alternative medicine , pathology
Summary. In her manuscript, Suggestions for Thought, Nightingale attempted to integrate science and mysticism. She wrote that the universe is the incarnation of a divine intelligence that regulates all things through law. For Nightingale, the laws of science are the “Thoughts of God.” Because of her deep conviction about universal law, she did not believe in miraculous intervention as an answer to prayer. Human beings must discover the laws of Cod and apply them for health and wholeness. Prayer is attuning or joining one's personal self with the consciousness of Cod, which is found in the deepest recesses of one's own being. Nightingale's idea of spirituality as intrinsic to human nature and compatible with science can guide the development of future nursing practice and inquiry.