“Even though the Joint Commission of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) requires nurses to conduct a spiritual assessment and provide spiritual care to all patients, less experienced nurses may wonder how to approach patients’ spiritual needs,” says Cleda Meyer, PhD., R.N., in her article “Mentoring for Spiritual Caregiving” in the Journal of Christian Nursing.
In addition to feeling uneasy about addressing the spiritual needs of patients, nurses new to the profession may be concerned “about issues of separation of church and state, [wondering] what content can be discussed during patient interactions,” says Dr. Meyer. “Furthermore, new nurses may be uncertain of how to deal with different cultural practices and religious customs, or they may feel addressing spirituality invades a patient’s privacy.”
Dr. Meyer gives some counsel on these concerns. “While obtaining a spiritual history is important, caring and listening — the gift of presence — serves as the most effective component of spiritual care. . . . Offering to call a chaplain or other religious leader [is] appropriate . . . [but] offering to pray with a patient should be approached with caution, lest this be misunderstood. . . . New nurses also need to be reassured that their role is not to give advice.”
The First Amendment says that “public institutions may not favor or support one religion over another, nor support religion over non-religion. However, patients are guaranteed the freedom of religious expression based on their beliefs. Therefore, what is important for nurses is respecting the beliefs of our patients—not avoiding spirituality or religion.”
Also, when faced with the variety of spiritual interests expressed by patients, a nurse should realize that, “since each individual’s spirituality is personal, the nurse can consider learning about her patients as a journey of spiritual discovery.”
Throughout her article, in the Winter 2005 edition, Meyer encourages Christians who have been in nursing for a while to consider mentoring nurses who have graduated recently. According to Dr. Meyer, the mentoring relationship between experienced nurses and new nurses is helpful to both of them in their spiritual walk and in their care of patients.
The U.S. Census Bureau reports there are 2.4 million registered nurses in the U.S., 92% are women. The number of registered nurses is projected to grow by 623,000 between 2002 and 2012. The bureau reports that it is expected that registered nurses will experience the largest job growth of any occupation during that time period.
“The Heart of Nursing” is a summer conference for nurses and students, sponsored by Nurses Christian Fellowship at InterVarsity’s Cedar Campus in Michigan.
Celebrating the Gift of Nursing
