Spirituality in Healthcare: Meaning, Tradition, and Practice

Introduction: Spirituality and Its Importance in Healthcare

Understanding spirituality in healthcare environments is important for any professional in the healthcare industry. Knowledge translates into power, and well-informed, well-trained, alert healthcare workers can save lives and help individuals heal by relying on more than medications and personal attention alone. This paper explores the reasons for linking spirituality with healthcare and examines how appropriate spiritual tools can be applied when patients need this support. Studies show that people with strong spiritual beliefs actually heal faster; therefore, competent, compassionate healthcare professionals need to be both informed and active regarding spirituality in clinical settings.

According to the University Medical Center, spirituality is a belief in a power far greater than humans can imagine — a sense and awareness that humans are connected to the world and all its creatures. "It's the way you find meaning, hope, comfort, and inner peace in your life" (Ehrlich, 2011, p. 1). Because spirituality operates at a level broader than organized religion, and because it links individuals with both their physical and metaphysical world, it holds significant implications for healthcare professionals.

Historical and Social Traditions of Spirituality in Nursing

An article in the Journal of Clinical Nursing (Pesut et al., 2008, p. 2804) discusses the historical and social traditions and contexts for the use of spirituality in nursing. Pesut identifies common themes running across traditions, including "meaning, purpose, hope, connectedness, relationship, transcendence, existential experiences and power/force/energy" (2804). Spirituality is frequently described as "a journey of lived experience, characterized by a greater sense of peace, meaning, purpose and connectedness" (Pesut, 2804).

The historical traditions of spirituality begin with the Enlightenment, when religion — Christianity in particular — held a powerful role in the workings of the Western world. The Enlightenment's emphasis on the "pre-eminence of reason" directly challenged the claims of religious dogma as to their level of truth and authority (Pesut, 2804). As a result, "religion in the Western world lost much of its social and political authority" (Pesut, 2804).

Because of the Enlightenment, the assumption that the world was "essentially homogeneous in nature" and governed by the laws of nature transformed theology into a kind of science searching for God (Pesut, 2805). Reason came to dominate religious dialogue. God became a "problem" that needed studying, and organized religion became "suspect as a bearer of revealed truths about God" (Pesut, 2805). Influential thinkers such as Freud, Durkheim, Max Weber, and Karl Marx predicted that religion would gradually fade as the industrial age emerged.

In postmodern spirituality, reason lost some of its authority, Pesut asserts (2805). Part of the rejection of the Enlightenment's promotion of reason stemmed from the devastation of the world wars, deteriorating social conditions, and widespread economic uncertainty. People sought something that would help them "navigate life's challenges in a meaningful way" (Pesut, 2805). Some argued that this period represented an age of "un-enlightenment," in which "mystics and fundamentalists" promoted "cults, quackery, gurus, irrational panic, moral confusion and an epidemic of gibberish" (Pesut, 2805).

There has been a notable resurgence of organized religion globally — approximately 77% of the world's population now identifies with Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Shinto, Sikhism, or Jainism — everywhere except Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Pesut explains that Westerners increasingly perceive religious institutions as treating individuals as "commodities" while "failing to address the needs of the populace" (2806).

As a result, spiritualism has taken on a more prominent role. Pesut notes that "militant fundamentalism" — the form of Christianity, for example, that unites political ideology with religious dogma, such as rejecting evolution in favor of creationism — has created "tensions in the forefront of public concern" in Northern societies (2806). Given a society that is disenchanted with the "ideological and political aspects of religion," embracing a form of spiritualism suited to healthcare practice makes sense, Pesut continues, because it rejects the social influence of religious dogma and allows the healthcare professional to interact on a higher level with patients.

Practical Application of Spiritual Care

In the twenty-first century, a form of spirituality well-suited to healthcare environments has emerged (Pesut, 2807). The process of spiritual self-help has gained "legitimacy through wisdom traditions" and acts to enhance a healthcare worker's "personal power and health," which in turn enables greater and more meaningful care of the patient. A nurse who is emotionally and spiritually healthy is in a better position to relate to the individual spirituality — in whatever form it takes — of the patient.

There are clear advantages to becoming familiar with patients' spirituality. First, studies show that religious convictions affect the decisions of healthcare professionals. For example, a Jehovah's Witness family may resist a doctor's recommendation to withdraw ventilator support from a dying grandfather, believing that a miracle could still occur. In such a case, a chaplain well-versed in spirituality could help the family understand that allowing their grandfather "a peaceful death" and "union with God" was itself a form of miracle (Puchalski, 2001, p. 354). Second, a doctor who leads a family in prayer around a dying patient — asking not just for a miracle but for strength in accepting the person's death — demonstrates how spiritually integrated care can address both emotional and medical needs simultaneously (Puchalski, 354).

Spiritually sensitive care can be delivered by first listening to the fears, hopes, and dreams of the patient; obtaining the patient's spiritual history; involving chaplains; being "fully attentive" to the patient's spiritual beliefs; and "incorporating spiritual practices" appropriate to that patient (Puchalski, 355).

Conclusion: Embracing Spirituality Across Traditions

Healthcare professionals should know, by the time they graduate and are trained in their particular field, that spiritually inclined patients heal faster, and that nurses and doctors should show the utmost respect for all religions. It is worth noting that spiritualism transcends religious dogma — whether that of Jehovah's Witnesses, Islam, or any other tradition. Given that approximately 77% of the world's population is affiliated with an organized religion, sensitivity to a patient's specific beliefs is just as important as embracing a broader spirituality alongside the patient.