Not being a nurse (I’m currently about to graduate as a physical therapist,) I really can’t speak for their education, but my sister is an RN and has worked in ICU for about twenty years. She has a textbook entitled “Critical Care–Body, Mind, Spirit.”
People are generally reluctant to talk about their beliefs, or explore a patient’s beliefs, but I’ve worked with some very devout Catholic doctors and nurses over the last four years. One older physician, when noticing signs of recovery in one of his patients while he is on rounds, says as a matter of course, “praise God and all His Saints!” Lots of Catholic health care personnel wear crucifixes. Before HIPPA laws came into effect, if a Catholic patient was taking a turn for the worse, it was the charge nurse’s responsibility to contact the Catholic chaplain or the patient’s parish priest for the Sacrament of the Sick. Nowadays, they ask you if you want the clergy to be contacted when you’re admitted to the hospital.
The nurse may have suggested yoga because the rhythmic breathing pattern promotes relaxation at the physical level. Many Catholics, when doing meditation, utilize the same breathing patterns to help relax and get themselves into a mental posture for prayer. I don’t think she was recommending yoga philosophy, but it might be possible.
Just a couple of random thoughts here. Medicine has recently started to pay attention to spirituality as a component of recovery from disease or as a coping mechanism to deal with pain and suffering. Actual paid research is being conducted, and you might find some studies linked to the National Institute of Health’s website. Also, try Creighton University, they’re a Jesuit run college but have a good reputation for medicine and nursing.
