A Christian Chaplain at a hospice in Florida has quit her job after being told she could not say the word “God” in her work in case non-believers were offended.

Rev Mirta Signorelli was told by the management of Hospice by the Sea that she could not say the words “God” or “Holy Father” in public areas of the hospice, but would be permitted in private consultations.

However, Signorelli said that many of her consultations were with patients by their bedsides in public areas of the hospice.

She said, “If you take God away from me, it’s like taking a medical tool away from a nurse,” reports the Daily Mail.

“I can’t do chaplain’s work if I can’t say God, if I’m scripted.”

The decision to ban the “offending” words was taken by the chief executive of the hospice, Paula Alderson who claimed, “We don’t want to impose religion on our staff.”

Liberty Counsel, a group promoting religious freedom described the ban as “bizarre”.

Rev Signorelli has been working as a chaplain with the terminally ill for 13 years.