In addition to providing quality medical care, the best nurses feel a compelling desire to care for and sympathize with patients in their care. Nurses see patients in distress due to their medical conditions or other personal issues outside of the medical facility. Many feel an urge to reach out to patients and offer spiritual support, but do not know how to do so.
Spiritual Support – Fundamental to Nursing
The goal of the professional nurse should involve healing the whole person, not just the immediate and tangible physical ailments of the patient. Because of the intangible nature of spirituality, expression of this need by patients may go unnoticed in a clinical setting, especially if the nurse is untrained in providing for this fundamental need in whole patient treatment. Nursing theory states that the human being consists of biological, psychological, and spiritual aspects—making spiritual care applicable to self-proclaimed atheists and agnostics as well as those practicing religion.
What Is Spiritual Support?
Spiritual support consists of any gesture on the part of the nurse to reach out to the patient suffering with emotional and spiritual turmoil or uncertainty. Actions include praying with the patient and direct spiritual dialogue about God, but it can be as simple as listening to patient anxiety and fears about his illness or upcoming treatment. Quality nurses are nurturing by nature. They naturally strive to treat patients with kindness, dignity and respect; this includes talking with them about their beliefs, fears, and concerns and offering reassurance.
Training in Spiritual Support for Nurses
Nurses can take a number of continuing education courses offering training in the various aspects of spirituality in healing. These courses expose participants to a wide range of religious and cultural values that nurses may come across in the diverse populations present in the U.S. today. The courses teach health care professionals how to offer meaningful support to patients even when their beliefs differ considerably from their own.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
