Spirituality in Nursing - Essay Example

? Fulfillment Of Spiritual Needs: The Core Of Healing Process of the of the Introduction A healthy body is a prerequisite for a healthy and positive mind. If the body is inflicted with disease, disorder or pain, it becomes difficult for a person to enjoy physical and mental happiness. However, when a person is suffering from health problems, only mental strength is not enough to help him fight the disease or to bear the pain associated with disease. He realizes the presence of ‘power that is beyond humans’ and hence, his hope gets tied to that power. The possibility of death makes a person fearful and his inclination towards spirituality grows to a great extent. Hence, spirituality plays an essential role in life of a person who is undergoing medical treatment. It has been found that the rate of recovery and attitude towards treatment is strongly affected by the spiritual and religious beliefs of a person (Shives, 2008, p.34). According to Baukhardt and Jacobson (2000), spirituality provides meaning and inner strength to a person (Barnum, 2003, p.2). Also, the introduction of the concept of alternative Eastern medicine and therapies to the Western people have changed the whole paradigm of medical treatment (Barnum, 2003, p.2). People have started believing in the power of Eastern therapies and spiritual practices to heal their diseases and suffering (Barnum, 2003, p.7). Moreover, it has been proved by the researches that spiritual and religious people respond more positively to medical treatment and show better outcome (Barnum, 2003, p.7). The positive relation between spirituality and medical recovery has made it essential to include spirituality and religion as a part of treatment. Hence, it is essential for the nurses to understand and fulfill the spiritual needs of the client, as it not only helps in gaining the trust of the clients and building a healthy relationship with them, but also helps in curing the diseases completely, as spirituality is known to have the potential to heal the emotional and psychological problems, which are the root cause of the diseases. Definition Defining spirituality is not an easy thing as it encompasses different views, experiences and beliefs that are held sacred by different religions, cultures and traditions. According to Vink (2003), spirituality can be defined as “that aspect of every human being, rooted in our unique createdness that is on a sacred journey of completeness, sometimes seeking to connect with and trust in the divine being” (Shives, 2008, p.34). The definition shows that the need of spirituality arises from the emptiness that people feel inside their heart despite of having everything in their life. Moreover, this emptiness and powerlessness is felt more strongly when a person is suffering from physical or mental disease. Spiritual practices help people to feel connected with God and remove the feeling of emptiness. Hence, human elements like “love, compassion, caring, transcendence, relationship with God, and the connection of mind, boy and spirit” are used to define spirituality in the nursing literature (O’Brien, 2011, p.6). Different theories of nursing have aimed at helping the nursing professionals to assimilate spirituality in their care of the clients. However, the nursing theory that comes close to including all the spiritual aspects of caring into nursing practice is the “Theory of Human/Transpersonal Caring” by Jean Watson. Theory Of Human/ Transpersonal Care Jean Watson (1985), in her theory of nursing and spirituality, has given immense stress on importance of spirituality in the process of nursing and care of a patient (Daniels, 2004, p. 1502). According o Watson, human being’s essential part is his soul and hence, if a person suffering from illness is to be healed, then connecting to a person on a level of soul is extremely important for a nurse (Daniels, 2004, p. 1502). Watson says that soul being the essence of human spirit, it provides human being with inner strength and helps him to expand his usual self and capacities and hence, helps him to fight with the illness and regain a healthy body (Daniels, 2004, p. 1502).However, nurse being the integral part of the treatment, achieving inner strength for a person who is ill, is not possible without the help of the nurse. Hence, helping a person achieve spiritual well-being by “assisting him in finding meaning and autonomy,” becomes a responsibility of the nurse. According to Watson, through “transpersonal caring relationship” and authentic response to the needs of the client, nurse can help the client find meaning in illness and strength to heal self (Daniels, 2004, p. 1502). However, for this to happen, nurse has to develop a genuine attitude in her care. Watson says that to help clients to fulfill their spiritual needs, nurses have to cultivate their own spiritual practices on regular basis (Sitzman & Eichelberger, 2010, p.51). Only those nurses who are spiritually evolved can understand the need of spirituality in their clients and can create a healing environment, which is very essential for healing a person (Sitzman & Eichelberger, 2010, p.51). At the same time, nurses should constantly encourage patients to develop new insights into healing process, and listen carefully when the clients are expressing their emotions and thoughts (Daniels, 2004, p. 1502). Moreover, as spirituality means different things for different people, nurses should interact with the clients and understand their personal spiritual views, if they are to develop a meaningful relationship with the clients (Mauk & Schmidt, 2004, p. 68). Only shared experiences can help nurses in developing meaningful relationship with client, and this makes healing easy and meaningful process (Daniels, 2004, p. 1502). However, for a nurse to absorb spirituality and remain positive in challenging situations of the job, it is also important to do spiritual assessment from time to time. Spiritual Assessment Human beings experience spirituality in different ways at different stages of life. Fowler (1981) has found that spiritual development leads people to express spirituality in different ways at different stages of life (Daniels, 2004, p. 1503). For example, adolescents depend on others to identify with their spirituality but after age 18, they develop their own individual spiritual identity and beliefs (Daniels, 2004, p. 1504). Hence, if a nurse is to understand the spiritual needs of a client and gain faith of the client, then she needs to do a spiritual assessment. This helps nurses in understanding the unique spiritual needs of particular clients rather than just generalizing the needs. As a part of assessment, nurse should identify “specific spiritual clues that can help in detecting the need for spiritual interventions” (Daniels, 2004, p. 1504). Nurses can discuss spirituality through transpersonal interactions and sharing views (Daniels, 2004, p. 1504). In this way, nurses can use different communication strategies to assess the specific spiritual needs of the clients. Conclusion The literature review has revealed that fulfillment of spiritual needs of a person undergoing treatment can increase the chances of recovery and healing in a person. Hence, for a nurse to help a client recover on all levels of being, it is very important to understand and fulfill the spiritual needs of the client, as spirituality is known to have the potential to heal the emotional and psychological problems, which are the root cause of the physical diseases in a person. . References Barnum, B.S. (2003). Spirituality in Nursing: From Traditional to New Age (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company, Inc. Daniels, R. (2004). Nursing Fundamentals: Caring And Clinical decision making. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Learning. Mauk, K.L. & Schmidt, N.K. (2004). Spiritual Care In Nursing Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins O’Brien, M.E. (2011). Spirituality In Nursing (4th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Shives, L.R. (2008). Basic Concepts Of Psychiatric- mental Health Nursing (7th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Sitzman, K.L. & Eichelberger, L.W. (2010). Understanding the Work of Nurse Theorists: A Creative Beginning. (2nd ed.). Sandbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Read More