Maybe you are reading this in the break room, or in the car park before going in, or in the car afterward with the engine off: after a patient died, a code that did not work, a ward two staff short. The page starts with one passage for the end of a shift and something small to do with it. Then come the carers Scripture names, what nursing codes say about praying with patients, and words for Nurses Day, a card or a pinning ceremony.
If you only have a minute
For the drive home
Isaiah 40:11, where the shepherd gently leads "those who have their young."
One thing to do
Read it once in the car and answer one question in a line.
If a patient asks you to pray
Codes differ by country; ask a chaplain, manager or regulator.
If it is getting harder
Support lines and crisis routes at the end name their countries.
Isaiah 40:11, for the end of a shift
The passage this site offers for caring for someone, in the World English Bible, with the two verses before it:
9 You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength. Lift it up. Don’t be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold, your God!” 10 Behold, the Lord Yahweh will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.
Isaiah 40 describes God returning to a people worn out by a long ordeal. The verse does not stop at the lambs. It ends with the ones responsible for others and puts them among those led gently, so a nurse who has carried other people all shift is inside the scene too. Bible verses for cancer caregivers reads the same verse for family carers.
Before the drive home, read the verse once in the car, then answer this question in a line: "Who is looking after you while you look after them?" Naming one person is a full answer for tonight.
Some shifts end here, with the engine still off.
After a patient dies
A nurse often goes straight from a death to the next patient. In Mark 1:31 Jesus "took her by the hand, and raised her up." In Mark 1:41, "Being moved with compassion, he stretched out his hand, and touched him." In Mark 5:41 he is "Taking the child by the hand." In the Gospels, care is done with the hands, and yours did that work today. Bible verses for grief and healing reads Mark 5 for a bereaved family.
There are words for what nurses carry. A 2018 meta-analysis of nursing studies, covering 4,054 respondents, found compassion fatigue and burnout closely linked. The World Health Organization reported in 2025 that "Only 42% of responding countries have provisions for nurses’ mental health support".
The Samaritan, and the inn at handover
In Luke 10:25-37 a lawyer asks, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus tells of a man left "half dead" on the Jericho road. A priest and a Levite pass by. A Samaritan "was moved with compassion, came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine," takes him to an inn, and the next day pays the host and says, "Take care of him." Enduring Word, an evangelical commentary, finds the shock in who helped: a Samaritan, where religious figures had passed by.
At handover, notice the inn. The care passes to someone else overnight, and the one who hands over goes on his way. Bible verses for cancer caregivers reads verses 34 and 35 for a family arranging help.
Two midwives with names
Exodus 1 names two midwives: "the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah." The king of Egypt orders them to kill the boys at birth. "But the midwives feared God, and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive," and "God dealt well with the midwives." Rashi, the Jewish commentator, identifies them with Jochebed and Miriam, Moses' mother and sister. Ibn Ezra reasons there must have been hundreds of midwives and reads these two as in charge of the rest. Either way, two women whose work was births have their names kept.
"I was sick, and you visited me"
Matthew 25:36 is often printed for nurses. It sits in a scene of the Son of Man judging the nations, who says to the righteous, "because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." The Catholic Catechism counts visiting the sick among "The works of mercy", "charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities" (2447). The people in the story did the care without knowing who they were caring for, and were told afterward that it counted.
Galatians 6:9, "Let us not be weary in doing good," is Paul writing to the churches of Galatia; Bible verses for work burnout explains why the Burnout record set it aside for a worn-out reader.
Ready for the next shift.
When a patient asks you to pray
Christian nurses are asked, and so are nurses of other beliefs. A student nurse on placement wrote on Reddit's r/NursingUK in December 2022 that a frightened patient had said, "please say a prayer for me nurse, oh nurse, please pray for me", and added, "I'm very atheistic, and being honest don't even know how to pray." Others answer differently. A nurse on Reddit's r/nursing wrote in 2021, "If I can see they need it, I will offer to hold their hands while they pray." On Reddit's r/NursingAU in April 2025, a student asked, "Where is that line?", and a Christian nurse in the same thread answered, "I would pray with patients who requested that."
The codes speak in their own words. In the UK, the Nursing and Midwifery Council Code (2018) says "make sure you do not express your personal beliefs (including political, religious or moral beliefs) to people in an inappropriate way." The International Council of Nurses Code (2021) says nurses promote an environment in which people's "religious and spiritual beliefs" are "acknowledged and respected." In the United States, the American Nurses Association Code (2015), quoted by the ANA in 2021, lists "religious or spiritual beliefs" among the factors care considers. The codes differ by country, and none gives one sentence for every request, so the hospital chaplain, your manager or your own regulator is who to ask.
A calling, and the conditions
Nursing is often called a calling. Pope John Paul II's Laborem Exercens (1981) calls work "a fundamental dimension of man's existence on earth." Beside it, the International Council of Nurses' 2025 report says "Chronic understaffing, unsafe working conditions, and inadequate pay have led to widespread burnout." You can hold both.
Other carers Scripture names
"Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak" (Genesis 35:8). Paul commends "Phoebe, our sister," who "has been a helper of many, and of my own self" (Romans 16:1-2); the Greek word behind "helper" can also mean benefactor or patron. Colossians 4:14 sends greetings from "Luke, the beloved physician." Tabitha was "full of good works and acts of mercy," and after her death the widows stood "showing the coats and garments which Dorcas had made" (Acts 9:36-42). For somebody who spends the day comforting others, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 calls God "the Father of mercies and God of all comfort," who "comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction."
For Nurses Day, a card or a pinning ceremony
International Nurses Day is 12 May. The Nightingale Pledge, still used at pinning ceremonies in the United States, begins "I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly." It was written in 1893 by Lystra Gretter and a committee at the Farrand Training School in Detroit. The Camillians, a Catholic order, name St Camillus de Lellis and St John of God as patrons of nurses and publish a prayer that asks, "Swift be the step, / Meek the look, / Open the heart, / Strong the hands." An Antiochian Orthodox parish publishes a prayer for healthcare workers asking God to bless them.
To thank the nurse who looked after your mother or father, this site suggests Matthew 25:36 or 2 Corinthians 1:4, with one line naming something that nurse did.
When the tiredness stays
NHS Every Mind Matters says, "If burnout is affecting your daily life or mental health, talk to a GP or contact NHS talking therapies." A GP is a family doctor. The Royal College of Nursing runs a counseling service for its members in the UK, Nurses and Midwives Support serves Australia, and NHS Practitioner Health serves doctors and dentists in England. Each provider sets its own eligibility.
Questions nurses ask
Who wrote the Nightingale Pledge? Lystra Gretter and a committee in Detroit wrote it in 1893 and named it in Florence Nightingale's honor.
When were the patron saints of nurses named? The Camillians record that Pope Pius XI proclaimed St Camillus and St John of God patrons of nurses in 1930.
Where to go next
If thoughts of ending your life are part of this, please reach a person tonight. In the United States, call or text 988 for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. In Canada, call or text 9-8-8. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans is on 116 123. In Australia, Lifeline is 13 11 14. Anywhere else, Find A Helpline lists lines by country.
Before the drive home, read Isaiah 40:11 with the verses around it once in the car. For something else you are carrying, Bible Nudge can suggest one passage from a line in your own words. Find a passage.
Words that come up here
Tap a term to see what it means.
Code. A nursing code of conduct, or on a ward, an arrest call.