The question should be "What is your religious affiliation?" The responses should include "none", not "atheist."

He was just doing his job and could not care less what your religion was or not. It's just a formality.

I was in the hospital over the summer with a punctured lung. They asked me too... I said Agnostic. Of course this drew in the chaplain into my room who wanted to discuss why I was Agnostic. Normally I ask politely for them to leave. But I debated the guy for a little while. He was Haitian I think. All he could do was disagree and smile a lot. It was a useless waste of time.

I would say, should I die, I do not want a shirt lifting priest of any religion anywhere near my corpse, you can't trust the assholes with children when they are alone, the mind boggles!

Should not be listed under religion services / support . In my place we took off the drop off list and nurses have to type whatever the patient states .
If a drop off list on the software they use at place u went , should say “ none “.
Like Glenn said , most times all of these means very litle to pastors , chaplains and other critters who walk around and have the nerve to stop on the hallways stressed and exhausted docs and nurses to ask them “ do u have any clients that need Jesus tonight / today “.
I am so tired of these idiots , I can’t even tell u . The whole world is on fire , people r coding , and jesus ain’t saving the game . But , we are obligated at the name of $$$ and good service to provide that type of “ support “.
I am laughing .

I'd just be happy that it's an option. In the UK there's often just a list of religions, with neither atheism nor no religion being an option. Was once asked by a medical receptionist what my son's religion was (he was about three at the time), to which I suggested she should ask him, resulting in a five minute conversation in which she tried to ask him theological questions and he assumed he was talking about Doctor Who.

Over here (OZ) there is a box of "No Religion" very useful.

If you have to fill out a form that asks the color of your car, and you happen to have a white car, you put “white” in that space, even though white is not a color. You don’t ask the DMV to make a new space on the form for “Acoloration”. It’s not the hill to die on.

They should have the answer as "No Religion". There is no reason for them to be asking you if you are Atheist.

I didn't think that they would still ask that question. My parents used to tell a story about when my older brother, 65 now, was born. My mother was in labor and my father filled out the paperwork. He was a math professor and researcher. Under religion he put the name of a famous mathematician. My mother knew nothing about it until the next morning when the clergyman came in. He asked her about her religion as he hadn't heard of it. She also had a degree in math and picked up on the joke quickly and discussed her religion with the man. At least he didn't try to convert her.

I guess so they don't call someone to give you "last rites" or whatever? I have had a lot of hospitalizations in my 71 years,there's Always been a box for "no religion " or similar

My mother, a Jew from Brooklyn, had a wonderful rapport with the Syracuse hospital Priest from the Bronx. They teased each other about their accents. But I digress. I'd like the category of "none"

I was hospitalized not that long ago and thankfully told them I was atheist because otherwise Christian volunteers come into your room and ask to pray with you.

No...you’d have been better saying “none” to that question.

Since a religion is defined as "the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods", Atheism doesn't fall under that umbrella. However, it's probably just simpler from a clerical standpoint.

I would have said reformed druid, bingo Thursday.

I don't see that as claiming that Atheism is a religion, just that it is a valid response to the question. Just as if there was a question about hair colour then "bald" could be a suitable answer. And in the sections labeled "sex" I'm sure "yes please" should be acceptable too.

In that case the answer is yes. This is because they are asking for a religion and you are saying you do not have one.

It fills in the box so they don't keep asking

My primary care doctor's practice ended up being absorbed by the ginormous Catholic hospital network that is slowly taking over the region. My doctor is awesome, and I didn't want to have to find another, so I ended up in that Catholic network by default. I was hospitalized with a kidney infection during the summer of 2018, and I wish I'd been asked my religious preference when I was admitted (I didn't have any major procedures until the second day, and that was when they asked.) It would have saved a lot of awkwardness when the pastoral care worker came in wanting to pray with me. I will happily put "atheist" under religion in my chart.

Yes, they take this information in case you are in need of a chaplain. If you mark Atheist they won't be dowsing you in holy water or worse should your health decline.
Ex hospital nurse
KA

I would have put "none"...

Atheist means non theological . Literally not religious

Atheism is not a religion per se, but an atheist can be religious. The word religion comes from the Italian word "religgio," which means re-linking (as in making a spiritual connection). Religion is normally associated with spiritual quest, but spirituality does not necessarily mean belief in the supernatural. Anyone who seeks connections to their origins, as a scientist who studies evolutionary biology or cosmology does, is, in a sense, practicing religion. When the student of biology finds the origin of her own species in bacterial cells, and realizes that she shares familial relationship to every other living thing on planet Earth, there is a kind of spiritual awakening. When the cosmology student apprehends that the atoms that comprise his body were forged inside stars, and that he is literally made of the same stuff, stardust, that makes up rocks and trees and clouds and oceans, he is uplifted, and his spirit soars.

(You see what I just did there? I elevated science to a spiritual plane and at the same time demolished organized religions' supposed monopoly on spirituality. Rock on free thinkers!)

Be happy it was an option. During my working residence in the UAE, there was a census, and there were only three boxes for the census taker to check. "Atheist" was not one of them. In fact, atheism was criminalized, so I had to grit my teeth and swallow my bile and tell him "Christian."