The West nurse suspended for offering to pray for a patient will refuse to return to work if she is forced to hide her Christianity.

Caroline Petrie's comments come as the NHS releases new guidelines for health workers on discussing religion.

Mrs Petrie, from Weston-super-Mare, was suspended without pay on December 17 after an elderly home visit patient complained to the NHS.

North Somerset Primary Care Trust threatened disciplinary action and said she breached a "personal and professional commitment to equality and diversity".

On Thursday the authority backtracked by issuing a statement saying it would welcome her back to work after her case provoked a national outcry.

But the 45-year-old mother-of-two said she would only go back if she was still allowed to offer prayers to her patients – and her lawyers said she may seek compensation for loss of earnings.

Yesterday, Mrs Petrie, a bank nurse, said her employer had still not contacted her directly and she only learned of her fate through media reports.

"At the minute I'm really happy to go back to work but it all depends on what conditions they set," she said.

"If they put conditions on me going back to work and said that I wasn't allowed to offer prayers to patients, well, I just wouldn't accept that. I wouldn't go back. I just can't separate the two things."

Mrs Petrie has been a Christian from the age of ten when her mother died of breast cancer. She switched from Church of England to the Baptist faith nine years ago.

"I simply cannot divorce my faith from my nursing. That's who I am and a part of why I went into it – I wanted to be a nurse from the age of seven," she said.

But the guidelines, set out in a document called Religion or Belief: A Practical Guide for the NHS, state that staff should be wary of expressing their religion in such a way that may be viewed as 'preaching'.

It reads: "Members of some religions ... are expected to preach and to try to convert other people. In a workplace environment this can cause many problems, as non-religious people and those from other religions or beliefs could feel harassed and intimidated by this behaviour.

"To avoid misunderstandings and complaints on this issue, it should be made clear to everyone from the first day of training and/or employment and regularly restated that such behaviour, notwithstanding religious beliefs, could be construed as harassment under the disciplinary and grievance procedures."

The Department of Health said the document was a guide to encourage awareness for staff and patients.

"The guide recognises that for some groups evangelising is part of their religious practice, which for some staff or patients can cause offence or discomfort. The guide suggests, to avoid misunderstanding or complaints, that as part of staff induction staff are made aware that this practice could be construed by some patients or staff as harassment.

"Feedback from trusts that were part of the consultation exercise for the guide indicated that this was a real issue, and something on which they were seeking guidance."