The Definition of Spirituality in Nursing - Essay Example

Spirituality in Nursing Marie Barthelemy Grand Canyon February 15th, The definition of spirituality has no widely-agreed characterization. In this context, different classes have different definition for this term. Social scientists define it to seek for the sacred. On the other hand, some define it as a traditional process of reformation, which is meant for recovering the humanity in a particular society. In this way, various religions have various concepts for the spirituality such as Christ is for Christianity; Buddha is for Buddhism, and so on. In the same way, various religions have different beliefs for the spiritual perspective on healing. This paper focused on four different religious beliefs, that is; Buddhism, Sikh, Baha’I and the Christianity. The main objective of the paper was to investigate different religious beliefs with regards to spiritual perspective on healing. Basically, discussed how spiritual perspective on healing on Buddhism, Sikh, Baha’I compares to that of Christianity. According to the paper, the Sikh religion teaches that health care providers ought to understand the religious preferences in the aspect of the patients and their care while; Buddhism considers the health and disease as a common fact to the life of human and in this way. In the same way, the followers of Baha’i believe in that the body of man contains physical body hence there is need to take good care of the body. Christianity talks about health and healthy living. Most of the teachings in Christianity focuses on good living and love with translate to good health. As mentioned above, the above religious beliefs might have different way of talking about healing but they all talk about the same thing in the end, which is healing of the body. Spirituality Introduction It is very important to agree with the meaning of spirituality since the paper is going to shed light on the topic of spirituality and three (to be discussed later in the paper) varied faiths. In this way, this paper is going to reveal as well as compare the philosophy of providing care from the varied faiths with the perspective of Christianity. However, the word “spirituality” has more than one conflicting meanings. Going throughout any library of online source of reading, one encounters a number of definitions for the word “spirituality”. In this context, the standardized dictionary, Oxford Dictionary, gives the meaning of the spirituality as 1). The human soul or spirit is different from the physical things 2). Religious belief of the human is called spirituality. Therefore, the root word of the spirituality is spirit and the rest of the word“-uality” is suffix, which qualifies the use of spirit. Thus, the spirituality means to qualify the sensitivity of a person towards the things of spirit. In this way, the question is what the spirit things are (Bullis, 2013). The answer of this question may vary according to the varied beliefs and faiths. In spite of that, the perceptions of the spirit things such as love, peace, and justice are observed indirectly in almost all religions and faiths. Discussion Diverse Faiths As mentioned, this paper is going to shed light on three varied faith with the comparison of the Christianity in order to describe the meaning of spirituality (OBrien, 2013). In this context, all these three religions such as Sikh, Buddhism, and Baha’i have the different interpretation for the word “spirituality”. Sikh The spirituality in the religion of the Sikh talks about the love and understanding. It includes contempt for the material things, distrust of intellect, desire for divine teaching, charity, purity of heart, humility, and meekness (Barber, 2012). Buddhism In Mahayana Buddhism, spirituality teaches the followers to make relation with transcendent, to practice of prayer, to carry on the physical practice (yoga), and to make relationship with the community in order to care for others (Nguyen, 2014). Baha’i The spirituality of Baha’i considers that God is for humanity. The teachings of the messengers of God educate the believers to advance the human society (Hatala, 2011). Christianity Christianity is a religion based upon the teachings and miracles of Jesus. Jesus is the Christ which means the anointed one. Christians are the believers in Christianity. According to Christian beliefs, there is only one God in all existence who made the universe, the Earth and created Adam and Even. God created every man in its own image and likeness hence every person is worthy of respect and honor. Where all other religions teach on the act of doing good in corporation with God in order to be in God’s presence, Christianity is the only exceeds this by teaching salvation by grace. Therefore, Christianity can be argued to be a relationship with the true and living God through the person of Jesus through whom our sins are forgiven and escape the righteous judgment of God. Spiritual Perspective on Healing Although the meaning of the “spirituality” has a number of different religions, but in spite of that, almost all religions (especially the three subjected religions as well as the Christianity) have the perspective of the healing to some extent. On the other hand, suffering may come in different forms for example sickness, natural disasters, and so on. In this context, no one is able to run away from the suffering, either in the form of sickness or natural disasters. As the matter of fact, the suffering is considered as the reality of the world and has been promised for the believers of all faiths alike (OBrien, 2013). In this way, every faith has different notions to reward the person who tends to help the sick or affected person, either in the form of good citizen or good believer. Compare and Contrast In this regard, the spirituality of Sikh, teaches that health care providers ought to understand the religious preferences in the aspect of the patients and their care. This is the way; they can be able to give most advantageous care to them. On the other hand, the religion of Sikh is in struggle to boost the quantity of the medical doctor and nurses. It believes that, this step will help to the service of the health care for the American Sikhs, who need the contact to the health care system, including the medical conditions such as acute, terminal, or chronic. In this regard, the basic belief of the Sikhism is that there is only one God, who created the world as well as the things in the world. In fact, the meaning of the word “Sikh’ is follower and the religion of the Sikh is the pathway for the followers. In this way, they believe that their actual way is to share a good fortune to the needy people, which is selfless service for the humanity. Those people have the belief on the death as human comes in the world to die (OBrien, 2013). The body of the man is unpreserved and his soul is eternal. On the other hand, the Buddhism considers the health and disease as a common fact to the life of human. In this way, Buddhism believes that the healing system is concerned to the matter of religion. However, the religion is to support the value of health care system since it is an important system for every society at every stage. On the other hand, the people of Buddha are famous as the Peerless Healer since they have profound concern with the mental health as well as its basic causes. In the same way, the followers of Baha’i believe in that the body of man contains physical body. On the other hand, the spiritual body contains the soul. In this way, the question is about the health of the body. In this regard, Baha’u’llah goes on to mention that the sign of the sick person as being weak is the reason that his health interferes his soul as well as his body. In this matter, one presents the example of lamp. The fact is that the light of the lamp shines constantly even an external thing interferes within its sparkle (OBrien, 2013). Similarly, all diseases actually prevent the soul of the man to start manifesting its innate power. In the same way, the Christianity has the view that pain is mingle in the life of man among three levels such as spirit of man, mind of man, and body of man. Therefore, it is a fact that the healing ought to be for all these three aspects or levels. In this regard, it believes in that if a person wants to be healed up, he has to show his willing to do spiritual effort. On the other hand, the Christianity educates to the followers to love and forgive. The Bible does not specifically link physical healing with spiritual healing. Often people get healed physically when they place their faith in Christ, but this is not always the case. Certainly, the bible urges believers to take care of their bodies. God gave us the bodies and he doesn’t want us to abuse them. For instance, the Old Testament specified the types of foods that might harm our body. Apostle Paul stated: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you?… Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) The teachings of the bible are a true reflection that Christianity talks about health. Health care specialists can borrow from the bible or some other Christian spiritual books to undertake good health care practices. On the hand, individuals can implement the teachings in regards to Christianity faith to live a healthy life. Critical Components of Healing, Such As Prayer, Meditation, and Belief Patients want to get well as soon as possible, but the fact is that no one has any idea how to get well as soon as possible. In this regard, a number of different advertisements go through to the eyes, and people start believing on the advertisements. The nature of the advertisements is to convince people on the fact that their product is as much effective for you as nothing will be. Consequently, people buy and consume the product in order to have good health. Nevertheless, people are actually ignorant and forgot the fact that the system of the world is not organized for the sake of one own benefits. Anyhow, the fact is that people become ill, as they are ignorant. On the other hand, people are considered as ignorant since they do not tend to seek out why they are ignorant. This is the reason because people do not have clue how to seek out since they have forgot that they ought to seek out (OBrien, 2013). The point is that, people have no idea how to get well and, thus, they stay in ailment. People of a Particular Faith When Cared For By Health Care Providers The health care takers ought to remember that patients from unlike religious traditions should be treated accordingly. In this way, there is no wide-ranging description in this regard. On the other hand, there are practical points, which describe that this notion of treatment affects a patient and his family as well as the team of care when the patient is hospitalized. In this regard, some health care providers can easily let the beliefs of a particular patient go in the way that they do not bring the discussion of a particular religion (OBrien, 2013). In spite of that, they keep their job on its own concern. This is the real concept of the Christian philosophy of faith and healing. Conclusion The scope of learning among almost all the religion is that health care provider ought to keep their practicing without regarding any faith since this is the true sense of the spirituality. This can be exemplified throughout the four religions/faiths such as Sikh, Buddhism, Baha’i, and Christianity. They all teach about the significant role of the health care providers in a different context. In other words, healing is humanity and humanity is spirituality according to not only the mentioned four faiths, but almost all. References Barber, C. (2012). Spirituality within non-Christian faiths: HCA/AP approaches. British Journal of Healthcare Assistants, 6(10), 484, Data retrieved from http://www.internurse.com/cgi-bin/go.pl/library/article.cgi?uid=94633;article=BJHA_6_10_484_487;format=pdf Bullis, R. K. (2013). Spirituality in social work practice. Taylor & Francis, Data retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=jdJFAQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Spirituality+&ots=coOGxoxdit&sig=ilxY8TzwWcK0LU7FGCOHrXgBvTQ Hatala, A. R. (2011). The psychology of spirituality: An introduction by Larry Culliford, Data retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2044-8295.2011.02055.x/full Nguyen, H. (2014). Buddhism-Based Exorcism and Spirit-Calling as a Form of Healing for Mental Problems: Stories from Vietnam. Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought, 33(1), 33-48, Data retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15426432.2014.873648 OBrien, M. E. (2013). Spirituality in nursing. Jones & Bartlett Publishers, Data retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=VbdXxGpefuoC&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=Spirituality+&ots=fjAxPgpFly&sig=ZoNwhX2PCC8Bz2PVpeAw6kE7UKI Read More