If you want to pray for someone, just do it! Telling them about it isn't praying it's a member-of-the-club thing. If the woman had asked her, fine.

The problem is this: the nurse is in a position of authority and her patients are, to some extent, at her mercy. You don't want to piss someone off or be made to feel like you might when a person has control over your meds, your care, your pain. You don't want to say 'no thank you' and you definitely resent being put in a position where you have to either agree or disagree.

I once worked somewhere where a guy was talking about someone he knew, who he found out was an atheist. Right up until that point he really looked up to this person, but he went from that to near loathing when he found out. I went from respecting this co-worker to wondering why the heck he got so upset and knowing I could never speak freely about my own beliefs in his presence. Now, I was HIS supervisor and I know I could avoid discussing religion with him, but what if the situation had been reversed?

One final thing: when you announce to someone you're going to pray for them, it's about a lot of things, but not prayer. I don't have a problem with someone asking, IF they're in some position of authority which makes it feel dangerous if I say 'no'. Anymore these days, there are a whole bunch of snide religious quips available: 'Well, I know you don't believe, but I'LL pray for you', 'You may not believe in God, but HE believes in YOU' and the like. These aren't even slightly justifiable except as holier-than-thou bitch slapping.

And about countries, countries don't have religions. They have citizens who have religions. The USA is Christian, except for when it's Jewish or Muslim or Navajo or Iroquois or Hindu or atheist or ... whatever. It was founded predominantly by Christians who naturally did what they believed was right, influenced by their religion. But it was the government and the law they created that defines this country, not the religion of the people who put the plan together. I don't know that the UK is that different and still attract immigrants with many different religions.