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Health Care Provider and Faith Diversity
Abstract
The concept of spirituality has gained popularity in healthcare. Faith diversity and spirituality are core components that define people and shape their experiences. This paper implements feedback from the previous works to provide valuable insights into the unique needs, customs, and rituals that can be integrated in healthcare faith diversity. The paper aims at addressing the seven world view questions and to provide a summary of the comparative analysis of the various belief systems.
The spiritual perspectives on healing will be addressed. The critical healing components common to all beliefs will be discussed. Additionally, important factors to consider when caring for patients from a particular faith that differ from healthcare providers will be explored. The paper concludes with a reflective summary describing ways the insights gained can be applied into practice.
Address Several of the Worldview Questions
A world view refers to the way of thinking about reality. It entails summing up people’s basic assumptions about meaning of life. To determine personal worldview, one should answer the following seven questions.
- What is prime reality?
- What is the nature of the world around us?
- What is a human being?
- What happens to a person at death?
- Why is it possible to know anything at all?
- How do we know what is right or wrong?
- What is the meaning of human history?
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According to my personal world view, the prime reality is that we all believe in a Supreme Being. In my case, I believe there is God, who rules the universe. According to our doctrines, the world was created in six days. We have a personal relationship to this world as man was ordered by God in the Garden of Aden to till the land and multiply, and fill the land (Genesis 1: 26).
Therefore, Human beings were made in the image of God. In Christianity doctrines, when a believer dies, one is resting with the angels. We believe that the soul is immortal and continues to live after death (Acts 2:29, 34). It is possible for human beings to know anything. This is attributable to the fact that were made in the image of God, thus, he has granted this wisdom (Genesis 1: 27).
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I am also aware of the processes of evolution and its association with increased intelligence and consciousness. I am a deontologist supporter. Therefore, I believe that there is nothing right or wrong in the world. These ate notions developed by socio-cultural pressures for survival. Human history begins when one’s understand their purpose on earth. As Christians, we believe that our purpose is to serve people and to help them live in harmony (Philippians 2:1-30).
Comparative Analysis of the Different Belief Systems
In Christianity, God is the Supreme Being and is believed to be omnipresent. Christians believe they were made in the image of God. He is the healer and comforter (Psalms 103:2-5). Christians lacks the concept of self. They are individuals whose souls are bound, and will be redeemed by the return of Jesus Christ. Therefore, their faith is driven by their relationship with man and God.
This is the only religion that worships the Supreme Being who loved the humanity that he gave his son, to live with them, understand their sufferings and to intercede for them. They believe in doctrines of sins, and the ultimate wage for sin if not repented is death. This is often associated with emotional insecurity especially in Christians who have had estranged lifestyles before (Hardman-Smith, 2013).
The Christian spirituality doctrine supports repentance and forgiveness; good healing anchors that nurse could be utilized to build and strengthen the patient’s hopes once more. Christianity also teaches on issues of kindness, love and empathy towards the suffering; e.g. the story of the Good Samaritan (Hardman-Smith, 2013).
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On the other hand, Buddhist believes that life begun spontaneously. In Buddhist, the greatest physician is Buddha. Buddha has skills to diagnose and administer treatment in a spiritual manner. Buddhist highly values the self-concept, which is transformed from mental and physical forces. This is an important factor during healing processes. Suffering is associated with the four noble of truths.
They believe in meditation and prayers. Buddhism critical component of spirituality in healthcare is that the community must take care of the sick. According to their teaching, he who attends the sick attends must be kind, compassionate and understanding. These are universal and important or core factors when attending patients from the different spirituality (Probst, 2014).
Spiritual Perspective on Healing
The holistic model of healing have three spheres including mind, body and spirit. In spiritual healing, it is the third realm (spirit) that is considered. Healing the spirit have positive effect of the body and the mind. This is a broad topic, but the specific approaches to healing includes healing liturgies, faith healing, laying of hands, anointing with oil and music meditation.
The growing demand of spiritual healing has made the medical community to integrate some of the critical components of healing in their therapeutic interventions. The most common critical components of religion in healthcare include prayer, meditation as well as patient’s belief. These are important as they influence the patient’s perception of a disease; and have been found to affect the decision making processes. Additionally, spirituality shapes the patient coping ability (Allan, 2014).
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What patients consider important when being cared for by providers with different spiritual beliefs
Receiving care from healthcare providers with different spiritual beliefs makes a patient feel uncomfortable. The healthcare providers must assess all issues that they consider valuable during their treatment regimen. The patient’s autonomy must be respected. Disregarding patient beliefs could lead to dissatisfaction. If the patient is not comfortable to be attended by the healthcare provider, the nurse manage must make arrangements to ensure that she gets a nurse whom they share values and beliefs (Hardman-Smith, 2013).
Creating a healing environment
Additionally, this course work has facilitated my understanding of healing hospital as described by Laurie in Arizona Medical Centre healing hospital report. These includes the physical environments which are set up in a manner that they promote the patients as well as their relatives to cope including less noise disturbances as the patients’ needs ample rests to recuperate (Probst, 2014). Additionally, healing hospital must combine technology with the work design.
This is because it facilitates the healthcare providers to deliver their care more efficiently. This includes activities such as assigning bank elevators to facilitate easy movement of the patients in critical conditions and the healthcare providers. This helps in maintaining patient’s dignity as well as the preservation if the patients privacy- improving the healing process (Hardman-Smith, 2013).
The integration of recent medical devices, healthcare informatics and nursing informatics yield efficiency and effective delivery of services. On the other hand, I have also learnt the challenges to anticipate when establishing a healing environment (Marriage, 2013). These includes staff shortages which could result to nurse burnout and lack of adequate facilities that will help give the nurses a healing environment too.
Some of the factors that might affect the concept of spirituality include scarcity of time, lack of patient knowledge and low experiences in managing spirituality discussions with the patients (Allan, 2014). There are incidences where the patient may want to impose their faith or beliefs to the care provider. For instance, consider a patient requesting a non-religious patient to pray.
For instance; at my work place, we have very short breaks, and there lacks a mediation place. There lacks motivational factors which could be affecting out productivity. I will definitely share the insights achieved with my colleagues; there is just so much that we can learn from this unit- important concepts often overlooked by most healthcare facilities (Hardman-Smith, 2013).
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Reflective summary
This course has improved my understanding the role of spirituality at people’s place of work. I have always approached the concept of spirituality with a lot of uneasiness and tension; but from my interaction with the other assignment has enabled me note that my perspective of estranged relationship between healthcare and religion is not a reflective of what is expected in the field.
I have learnt that integrating spirituality in healthcare serves the best interests of the patients (Hardman-Smith, 2013).Therefore, introduction to the worldview was important as it has enable me understand how to approach patients from different cultural and religious background; such that I can now establish a fruitful interaction with the patient- promoting holistic healing process.
In the topic of the phenomenology of illness and disease, it is interesting to learn that suffering, pain as well as disease has features that are universal in human beings; and that their magnitude is influenced heavily by the person’s race, social status, gender as well as religion. By reading Lev Tolstoy book The Death of Ivan Illych, I now understand the universal elements of disease, illness as well as death.
The analysis of the Called to care text book was informative and phenomenon too. I have learnt that my perspectives about religion would influence the relationship with the patient. I have learnt not to underestimate the patients faith and the religious systems, nor should I impose my faith or believes on the patient (Probst, 2014).
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Altogether, learning this unit has enable me understand that patients especially those diagnosed with chronic diseases and are at the end of life stage have crisis of identity. In this context, spirituality must be integrated in care as it entails the search of the lost identity as well as the search of meaning. From the evidence based research, it is evident that spirituality is a coping strategy for most patients (Russell, 2013).
Conclusion
Therefore, every healthcare providers, especially the nurses are expected to integrate the patients culture and spirituality in the patients care plan, and when making health decisions. Additionally, the healthcare providers should not neglect their spiritual wellbeing or psychological health. Maintaining a healthy environment for nursing is important as nurse’s work in stressful environments; and is exposed to patient sufferings as well as death. This unit reminds me of the importance of staying in touch with my religion and feelings that add value as well as meaning to my life- while dedicating care to others.
References
Allan, F. (2014). The Essential Guide to Religious Traditions and Spirituality for Health Care Providers Jeffers Steven , Nelson Michael , Barnet Vera et al The Essential Guide to Religious Traditions and Spirituality for Health Care Providers1048pp £120 Radcliffe 9781846195600 1846195608. Nurse Researcher, 21(6), 46-46. http://dx.doi.org/10.7748/nr.21.6.46.s4
Hardman-Smith, J. (2013). The Essential Guide to Religious Traditions and Spirituality for Health Care ProvidersThe Essential Guide to Religious Traditions and Spirituality for Health Care Providers. Cancer Nursing Practice, 12(3), 8-8. http://dx.doi.org/10.7748/cnp2013.04.12.3.8.s3
Marriage, H. (2013). Book review: December 2013 The essential Guide to religious Traditions and Spirituality for Health Care Providers Stephen L Jeffers , Michael Nelson , Vern Barnet , Michael Brannigan (eds) Radcliffe Publishing , Milton Keynes pp 1048 £120 ISBN 9781846195600. J Health Visiting, 1(12), 717-717. http://dx.doi.org/10.12968/johv.2013.1.12.717
Probst, J. (2014). Health Care Providers In Rural America. Health Affairs, 33(2), 346-346. http://dx.doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2013.1389
Russell, P. (2013). The Essential Guide to Religious Traditions and Spirituality for Health Care ProvidersThe Essential Guide to Religious Traditions and Spirituality for Health Care Providers. Nursing Older People, 25(6), 8-8. http://dx.doi.org/10.7748/nop2013.07.25.6.8.s11
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