Providing spiritual care to patients whose worldviews are different from mine can be challenging due to the pluralistic culture that comprises numerous religions and beliefs. With limited knowledge concerning other religions together with their beliefs, practices, rituals, and deepest values, it is hard to have a spiritual conversation with a patient with different beliefs from mine. My fear is violating ethical and professional conduct by appearing to impose my values and beliefs on the patient. My other concern with facilitating spiritual care to patients is asking questions that might seem too intrusive. Sometimes it is also difficult to tell whether a patient is willing to take a physician through their religious journey.
On the other hand, with my strong inter-personal skills, I can build a strong relationship with the patient to make them comfortable to share their beliefs and values with me. In an event a patient does not feel satisfied with my spiritual conversation, I can rely on team work to ensure my patient gets the most effective spiritual care. I can request assistance of another nurse or the hospital chaplain who share the same beliefs as the patient. This can only be possible in a supportive environment where experienced nurses are willing to offer help to their juniors and build a conducive environment for nursing practice. Such support delivers positive benefits for both the practitioner and the patient (Giske & Cone, 2015).
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If I were the patient and found myself in a difficult situation where the nurse was not able to attend to my spiritual help, I would opt for the hospital chaplain’s help. Chaplains have the experience of dealing with patients seeking for meaning like causation or spiritual reflection for their illness (McCormick, 2014). Chaplains can also help guide patients through concerns like permissibility of certain procedures or arrange rituals that are sacred to the patient.
References
Giske, T. & Cone, P. H. (2015, July, 27). Discerning the Healing Path- How Nurses Assist Patient Spirituality in Diverse Health Care Setings. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jocn.12907
McCormick, T.R., (2014, April). Spirituality and Medicine. Retrieved from https://depts.washington.edu/bioethx/topics/spirit.html
