SPIRITUALITY IN NURSING:

Standing on Holy Ground

Presented By:
Maydilyn M. Gultiano, RN, MAN
• Why is spirituality important in the practice of
nursing? Give situations/reasons.

• Is spiritual care a responsibility of the nurse?

Any mandate? What are the specific
responsibilities in the care of the human
spirit?
 SPIRITUALITY

• A personal concept
It is understood in terms of individuals
attitude and beliefs related to
transcendence or the non-material
forces of life and nature. (Emblen,
1992)
 Spirituality
• As a broad concept:
It encompasses values, meaning and purpose, where
one turns inward to the human traits of honesty, love,
caring, wisdom, imagination and compassion
Existence of a quality of a higher authority guiding
spirit or transcendence that is mystical
A flowing dynamic balance that allows and creates
healing of body mind and spirit and may or may not
involve organized religion.
(Dosey, 1989)
 Spirituality
• A paradigm
An expression of the developmental capacity for self
transcendence (Reed, 1992)
• As a relationship
Is a relationship with supreme being that directs one’s
belief and practices (Leininger, 1997)
• A human need
That dimension of a person that is concerned with
ultimate ends and values. It inspires in one the desire
to transcend the realm of the material (O’Brien, 1982)
• Spirituality may thrive without religion
 RELIGIOSITY
• Relates to a person’s beliefs and behaviors
associated with a specific religious tradition
and denomination.
 Reflections of spirituality
• 1. to give and receive love
• 2. respond to and appreciate God, other
people, nature, a symphony and spring.
(O’Brien, 1982)
• 3. having meaningful prayers (Mervaglia,
1999)
• 4. can thrive outside religion (Kendrick and
Robinson, 2000)
 Characteristics of spirituality
1. Unfolding mystery
 Giving meaning and purpose in life
2. Harmonious interconnectedness
 A relationship with other people and with God
3. Inner strength
 Relates to one’s spiritual resources, one’s ability
to hope, cope and to transcend beyond the
ordinary.
4. Practice one’s belief
 Exploring spirituality
• Ask the patient:
– How he/she understands GOD
– What things give meaning and joy to life

• The nurse must understand his/her

spirituality, his/her beliefs can differ from the
patient and his family
 NURSING
• Nursing is a profession that is neither pure
science and pure art. It is blending of art, science
and an unselfish devotion (Price, 1954)
• Nursing is a sacred ministry of health care or
health promotion provided to a person sick or
well who requires caregiving, support or
education to assist them in achieving, regaining
or maintaining a state of wholeness including
wellness of the body, mind and spirit. The nurse
also serves those in need of comfort and care in
coping with chronic, terminal illness or the dying
process.
 Nursing as a vocation of service
• A ministry to those who the nurse cared for.
• Nurses’ mission is driven by altruism and
empathy for the sick
• Nurses do not expect worldly rewards for this
effort.
• Caregiving is commissioned and supported by
God.
 NURSING IS A CALLING
• Nursing is seldom undertaken by those who
don’t have an earnest consciousness to serve
humanity
• Giving care to the sick includes serving the
needs of the mind and the spirit.
 The nurses spiritual posture
• To stand on holy ground and take off his/her
shoes.
 HEALTH
• What is health?
– Does not only pertains to physical health and
wellbeing
• Can a person pose a healthy attitude even when
suffering from terminal illness ?
 HOLISM
• The integrated whole is independent of and
greater that the sum of its parts.
• To support Holism, spiritual needs requires
attention equal to physical and psychosocial
concerns.
• To provide a truly HOLISTIC CARE
• The nurse needs to be sensitive to the patient’s
spiritual needs
 The body, mind and spirit
• Body
- the physical substance of the person that can be
perceived in empirical reality.
• Mind
-dimension of an individual that conceptualizes.
• Spirit
-life principle that is share with all humanity and with
GOD.
-A dimension of personhood that drives one to create,
live, question, contemplate and transcend.
 HOLISTIC CARE
• The spiritual dimension and needs of the
person must be carefully assessed and
considered in therapeutic planning
• Spiritual care cannot be separated from
physical and psychological care.
 HEALER

• Healer
–Has the concept of a strong, gifted
individual whose ministry is
directed by care and compassion
 Nurse as a healer
• Nurses are instrument of God’s healing
Focuses on the nurses' ability to relieve
suffering
• The Nurse-patient interaction is a
channel of the healing in holistic care
• The nurse stands as God’s surrogate and
as a vehicle for HIS word and
compassionate care.
 HEALING
• Facilitating openness to the communication of
the Holy Spirit whose message is always
“wholeness” (Johnson, 1992).
• The process or act of caring or restoring to
health or wholeness, the mind body and spirit
(Haggard, 1983)
• To make whole (Burke, 1993)
 Three dimensions of a healer
Listen to the voice of God
Desire to restore health either of
body or spirit
Attempts to assist the patient to
achieve wholeness and integrity of
the body, mind and spirit.
 Wounded healer
• The gift of healing has emerged from and is
honed by the healer’s own experience of
suffering and pain
• Looks after his/her wounds and has the ability
to heal others. His own wounds become a
source of strength, understanding and
empathy.
 NURSING AS A CARING PROFESSION
Theology of caring
• Theology – an intellectual description, an
ordered body of knowledge about God. “Faith
seeking understanding”.
• The nurses personal understanding of
theology is influenced by:
Religious heritage
Religious education
Religious or spiritual experience
Current faith practices
 CARING
• NURSES HAVE A VOCATION TO CARE
• Caring
– Is an active attribute which genuinely conveys to
the person that he/she does really matter in
his/her sense of uniqueness and worth
 Caring
• Caring
– The direct nurturant and skillful activities,
processes and decisions related to assisting
people in such a manner that reflects behavior
attributes which are emphatic, supportive,
educational and otherwise dependent upon the
needs, problems, values and goals of the person
or group assisted.
– Caring is the central focus of nursing practice
Madeline Leininger
Five attributes of the concept of caring
1. Compassion
2. Competence
3. Confidence
4. Conscience
5. Commitment
Caring is an integral to the essence of nursing
• Enable the nurse to relay trust and confidence to
patients that lead to the promotion of good health.
 Seven characteristics of patient care
1. Caring
2. Compassion
3. Spirituality
4. Community outreach
5. Providing comfort
6. Crisis intervention
7. Going an extra mile
 Dimensions of caring
• The three activities that serve as a
INTERVENTION for SPIRITUAL CARING :
1. Being with the patient in their experience of
pain, suffering and other problems.
2. Listening to patients as they verbally express
their feelings involving fear, anger, loneliness,
depression, sorrow which may be hindering the
achievement of wellness
3. Touching patients either physically, emotionally
or spiritually to assure them of their
connectedness with others, family and GOD.
 Being with
• Being with the person create space for
meaning to emerge and for the holy to be
revealed.
– Being with the patient as they wait for the
personal answers to questions emerge.
 Listening
• An integral part of being a person.
• Active listening with responsive and sensitive
feedback
• The ability to listen is both an art and a skill
• Silence is also an important dimension of
caring
 touch
• Touch is often used in healing and caring interaction
• Loving, emphatic, compassionate touch is the most
vital dimension of nursing theology of caring
• Touch maybe physical or verbal.
• Touch encompasses the 5 dimension of caring:
1. Physical comfort
2. Emotional comfort
3. Mind body and spirit
4. Social integration
5. Spiritual sharing
• TOUCH is associated with being with the
patient and is critical to the provision of
spiritual caring
• Nurses presence has the ability to touch
physically and spiritually
• Compassionate touch
• Touching someone by deed or work