Healthcare And Spirituality Nursing Assignment Paper (Essay Sample)

HEALTHCARE AND SPIRITUALITY
NAME OF STUDENT
TUTOR’S NAME
INSTITUTION’S NAME
DATE
Engaging in the spiritual dimension of life is an essential component of well-being and health. Integrative medicine emphasizes on bringing spirituality and healing together. The role of spirituality and religion in medicine is composed of practices such as pastoral counseling, meditation and healing prayers, evoking compassion and forgiveness, incorporating the mystery of death at the end of life care, and searching for meaning in the patient’s illness and family as well as those professionals working with them.
A healthy environment, integration of technology and radical loving care are all key components to a healing hospital. These are core factors to be considered in a healing hospital and for its success. Instituting and integrating the three components can be very challenging since many barriers need to be overcome.
Creating a physical environment for healing is a major component of a healing hospital. This implies a quiet, serene environment that patients can sleep enabling their body cells to regenerate faster, thus accelerating the healing process. Promoting a quiet environment demands some physical changes in a hospital if they had not been put in place. These include putting silencers on cleaning machines, carpeted floors and instituting policies on overhead paging unless in cases of emergency. According to Eberst (2006), a quiet environment creates a secondary advantage keeping patients, families, health personnel and employees free from stress.
Integrating technology in the hospital is another component. According to Eberst 2006, it is important that we establish methods that uphold the patient’s privacy and security. This preserves their dignity over the period they are hospitalized since it is a period that can be very stressful to some patients. Providing the patients with some entertainment such as music and educational presentations of their specific problems makes them forget the pain or the condition they are in, and they embrace the present life no matter how it is. A hospital with technologically advanced equipment is always at an advantage since it can offer advanced health care such as life support; which is a spiritual part of medicine, accelerated test results thus reducing the patient’s and family’s anxiety.
The last component is fostering a culture of love in health care. Among the three, this is the most important since it brings the employees, health specialists, and the patient together, embedding the confidence and peace that a patient will require as they undergo the healing process. Chapman 2003 says such environment thrives when all employees unite and commit to creating a caring, focused environment on every patient.
Implementing these components comes with challenges that need to be overcome. First, there is the problem of bringing the nurses, physicians and the staff to believe in the healing hospital philosophy. Coming up with a team that is willing to support is imperative. Furthermore, there is the financial barrier that comes when intending to create a healing physical environment. Accomplishing a quiet environment will need carpeted floors, silenced washing machines and so much more. These cannot be achieved when there exist financial barriers. These form a part of the challenges that a healing hospital may face.
The philosophy of healing hospitals is well embedded in the Bible. Many passages talk about people’s health and healing and the subsequent peace that comes along with it. As we see in the New Testament, (Mark 8:12), Jesus is portrayed as the great physician who concerned himself not only with the spiritual healing but also the physical healing. He sees suffering as our enemy thus he heals many. (Luke 13:16) shows that Jesus is compassionate and that he heals even on Sabbath. (Luke 9:12), Jesus commissions his disciples to preach God’s kingdom and heal the sick...