Religious Issues And Nursing Essay

Nurses are an essential part of the healthcare system and the society. Nurses require special knowledge, preparation and skill, in their profession. They must have adequate training on issues that pertain to handling patients, medicine and medical records among other issues. Nursing profession requires an advanced knowledge and skills that it outgrows the needs of any society for special services. Nursing profession is a calling because it involves a lot of sacrifice of personal time, patient, discipline, values, ethics and other essential qualities. Religious Issues And Nursing Essay
Nurses provide help, support and care to human beings irrespective of their gender, social status, financial status and the position they occupy in the society.

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The nurse acts as an advocate for the patient. She must have concern for the patient and act on behalf of the patient, to make him heal emotionally. Patients experience emotional instability during sickness. The patients experience a lot of pain and sometimes lack funds to cater, for their treatment. Other patients suffer from untreatable diseases that require close management and care. These issues may affect the patient emotionally. Therefore, the patient needs someone to encourage them and offer them advice. A nurse has the responsibility to comfort the patient and provide emotional support, at the time of need. A Christian nurse must provide care for patients, with politeness and handle them, in a friendly and respectable manner (O’Brien, The nurse’s calling: a Christian spirituality of caring for the sick, 2001). In most cases, patients suffer from physical health problems.Religious Issues And Nursing Essay There are different health conditions that affect the mind and body physiology. However, these health conditions affect the physical health of the patients. These health conditions affect the physical health of the patients, to the extent that they may make them weak. Therefore, a Christian nurse has the responsibility of caring for the physical health of the patient. A nurse can do this by ensuring the cleanliness of the patient. This means that the nurse should use available facilities in the medical Religious Issues And Nursing Essay

Throughout the healthcare field there is so much diversity in each client, which can be attributed to different backgrounds and spirituality of the patient. Spirituality in nursing is significant because many clients based their healthcare views off of spirituality and to provide them with the best care as possible. Spirituality and religion have different denotations and personal meanings to an individual person. The connotation of spirituality is a personal faith that is based off of one’s experiences and own beliefs. According to Jarvis (2012), “religion is the belief in a diving or superhuman power… to be obeyed and worshiped as the creator(s) and ruler(s) of the universe (p. 15). Religious Issues And Nursing Essay
b. How does spirituality relate to the patient’s physical assessment?
The spirituality relates to the physical assessment in

I do not think that the client’s care and plan will be extremely affected due to her spirituality. Since she believes in rest and care, she will be in accordance to the nurse’s plan of care. A nurse tries to provide the best plan of care for the client and her beliefs  Religious Issues And Nursing Essay

The nursing concern that may impact the client is the client fasting when ill. Since M.M. has a fasting every Tuesday, in order to listen to God
Teaching Plan
A teaching plan must be implemented for a client according to their specific spirituality and beliefs. The client believes that, according to the bible, her body is the only physical thing she has to offer to God, therefore she must take care of her body holistically. I would recommend the client to exercise, maintain a balanced diet, and to attend regular wellness checkups.

The purpose of this article is to consider the relationship between religion and healthcare in order to
suggest how physicians and other health care providers should respond when the faith-based
preference of a patient clashes with the medically indicated treatment modalities.Religious Issues And Nursing Essay
The patient and practitioner really need to understand each other’s vantage point. In a nutshell, the
patient knows that the doctor certainly intends what is best but the patient does not believe that “the
doctor knows best” in this instance. Only God does. The doctor can clearly spell out what the
symptoms mean, what test results show, and what medicine indicates by way of treatment and the
patient understands this.
Religion is a subject that we encounter daily, because we follow a specific faith and the rules
established by it. Religion is not only “researchable,” but it is also of essential interest to clinicians,
doctors, patients and health psychologists. Religion has the benefit of empowering the individual
through connecting him/her to a community, and to a superior force, that might in turn give
psychological stability (Basu-Zharku, 2011). This ability to empower could be used by health
workers to help those who struggle with a disease or to promote a healthier lifestyle. This
empowering happens through consciousness of religious principles, such as the sanctity of human
life, shared identity, meaningful roles in the community and society at large, a variety of spiritual,
social and economic support, social networks, and even leadership for social change and protection
in time of conflicts. The field of health sociology at large should move towards promoting culture as
a means of understanding between health care providers and patients and in the interest of
prevention, as well.Religious Issues And Nursing Essay

The Role of Spirituality in Nursing
When nurses deal with patients who are going through any form of physical or emotional illness, spiritual distress often follows. Even though nursing care focuses primarily on healing the body and mind, it is important to realize that when the spiritual side is not at ease, the body and mind would also not be at peace. When a patient is suffering from a terminal illness, they ask questions like, “Why is this happening to me?”, “What did I do to deserve this?”, “Has God forbidden me?” etc.Religious Issues And Nursing Essay

During this time, they may not be taking their medicines on time. Their focus is not on the physical things but on something that is more intangible.

In situations like these, it is not physical or emotional treatment that will help the patient find peace. It becomes very important for a nurse to cater to the spiritual needs of the patient. And a nurse is the most appropriate person to do this since they spend the most time with the patient. During times of spiritual distress, it is often a nurse that can comfort the patient by bonding on a spiritual level. This bonding and connection enables the patient to spiritually confide in the nurse.Religious Issues And Nursing Essay

Honoring Spirituality
Nurses play an important role in honoring the religious diversity of patients and families according to Kathleen Penzes’, MN, RN-BC, NEA-BC, executive director of women’s services and nursing administration at St. Joseph Hospital of Orange, a faith-based organization. “It’s part of our nursing background to honor the spirituality of our patients, so some of the initial nursing assessment questions address religious beliefs and preferences,” she said.

Over the years, Penzes has learned people’s religious beliefs usually come into play when they’re ill or dying. “We will make whatever accommodations they request to honor those beliefs,” she said. “Some of our patients have an end-of-life plan, analogous to the birth plans some families develop when they’re expecting a child, and those plans may involve bringing extra people into the clinical setting.”

When end-of-life rituals involve large gatherings, music or chanting, Penzes and her colleagues do what they can to minimize disruption to other patients. “While it can be a challenge in settings such as critical care to make accommodations, our nurses understand they can make exceptions to the guidelines to honor their patients’ religious beliefs,” she acknowledged.Religious Issues And Nursing Essay

Spirituality in Nursing Today
How does nursing today view spiritual care? For a long time, nursing literature concerning spiritual care was directed towards belief systems and religious practices. If considered at all, it was defined in a narrow way as relating to religious functions and intervention officially to calling the hospital chaplain.

Regardless of that, nurses often face spiritual need and recognize the more obvious expressions of it. Statements such as “God must be punishing me” or questions like, “Nurse, do you think there is anything after death?” were recognized as spiritual concern.Religious Issues And Nursing Essay

Spiritual care can be a natural part of total care which fits easily into the nursing process of assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation. Placing spiritual need and spiritual care within this framework has proved to be helpful, for practical reasons. The types of knowledge used in the nursing process – practice wisdom, ethics of practice, and scientific knowledge – are all relevant to evaluating spiritual needs and planning spiritual care. It can also then be documented in nursing care plans, to guarantee continuous care.Religious Issues And Nursing Essay

Meeting the Challenge
Spiritual care can still be a scary prospect for many nurses. The differing beliefs, requirements and hopes of patients are a major challenge. Nursing involvement already provides some spiritual assistance. Just being with patients, listening to their concerns, sympathizing and responding, is therapeutic when it comes to meeting the needs of the human spirit – the need for love and understanding, meaning and purpose, and hope. Nurses often fail to recognize and document this necessary care.Religious Issues And Nursing Essay

There are nursing texts that give an overview of the religious/spiritual requirements of a number of major faiths. This is important because in many societies culture and religion are closely woven together. A working knowledge of major religions – especially their beliefs regarding issues such as health and illness, suffering and death – will be highly relevant to nursing care. Knowledge of customs, ceremonies, cleanliness/hygiene rules, and food laws will be of practical value.Religious Issues And Nursing Essay

Nursing acknowledges that spiritual needs are as important as physical needs for a person’s well being. Increased awareness and preparation, together with a united approach, will be shown to enhance the quality of care and strengthen their contribution to the ongoing development of the profession. It will require teamwork and unity in order to provide comprehensive, consistent and ongoing spiritual care. There is strength in a diverse yet united approach to the challenge of spiritual care in nursing practice.Religious Issues And Nursing Essay

Throughout the healthcare field there is so much diversity in each client, which can be attributed to different backgrounds and spirituality of the patient. Spirituality in nursing is significant because many clients based their healthcare views off of spirituality and to provide them with the best care as possible. Spirituality and religion have different denotations and personal meanings to an individual person. The connotation of spirituality is a personal faith that is based off of one’s experiences and own beliefs. According to Jarvis (2012), “religion is the belief in a diving or superhuman power… to be obeyed and worshiped as the creator(s) and ruler(s) of the universe (p. 15). Religious Issues And Nursing Essay
b. How does spirituality relate to the patient’s physical assessment?
The spirituality relates to the physical assessment in

I do not think that the client’s care and plan will be extremely affected due to her spirituality. Since she believes in rest and care, she will be in accordance to the nurse’s plan of care. A nurse tries to provide the best plan of care for the client and her beliefs do

The nursing concern that may impact the client is the client fasting when ill. Since M.M. has a fasting every Tuesday, in order to listen to God
Teaching Plan
A teaching plan must be implemented for a client according to their specific spirituality and beliefs. The client believes that, according to the bible, her body is the only physical thing she has to offer to God, therefore she must take care of her body holistically. Religious Issues And Nursing Essay