Spirituality and faith continually encounter moments of growth and trial. Today, the pandemic has thrust them to the forefront. When we witness things beyond our comprehension or beyond our control, we search for the deeper meanings in life. Holism assumes that the mind, body, and spirit are inextricably linked, and that influence in one will lead to a change in the other. A holistic approach to restoring the harmonious balance between these three components of humanity is paramount as individuals are increasingly being treated as integrated systems that reflect body, mind, and spirit.
An international team of interprofessional thought leaders on spiritual care developed the following statements identifying what healthcare professionals should know about spiritual care:1
- Spiritual care models should be based on honoring the dignity of all people and on providing compassionate care.
- Spiritual distress or religious struggle should be treated with the same intent and urgency as treatment for pain or any other medical or social problem.
- Spirituality should be considered a patient vital sign. Just as pain is screened routinely, so should spiritual issues be a part of routine care. Institutional policies for spiritual history and screening must be integrated into intake policies and ongoing assessment of care.
Reservoirs of Resilience
Spirituality can be a healthy and constructive reservoir of resilience for seniors and healthcare providers. Practicing disciplines of meditation, prayer, and religious ritual, as well as the relationships many create and maintain in their faith community, propels hope. There are many studies looking at religious and spiritual practices and the potential positive impact these can have on care providers in helping to mitigate compassion fatigue and creating positive coping strategies around issues of self-care.2 3 4
The pandemic invites us to an expanded idea of community, recognizing the whole world is in this together. Pain and sorrow are felt together globally and locally. We hold the joy and responsibility of creating and recreating the kind of compassionate community we need.
Access to one caring individual increases an individual’s resilience. Longer life, lower instances of depression, and better overall aging is linked with resilience. Emotional exhaustion and depersonalization lessen with spiritual well-being. Spirituality as a coping resource increases resilience and protects against burnout.5 6
Since spiritual care contributes positively to healthy workplace environments, combatting compassion fatigue, and preventing provider burnout, it opens the door for strategic leadership in healthcare administration. Resilience can reduce provider turnover rates and lessen absenteeism, which affects the overall fiscal bottom line.
Spirituality as Self-Care
Innovating to transform nursing home support uplifts frontline care providers with intentional resources and training. Staff should strive to be intentional about their own self-care. Functioning as a spiritual reservoir, sustaining others resilience from their own excess rather than from a place of depletion. People find ways of coping with the intensity and stress of their daily work. It may be in eating, drinking, exercising, sexual activity, smoking or drugs, music, yoga, art, or other “outlets” that function as coping strategies.7 The key is intentionality, finding constructive and healthy coping strategies. Many options arise from within the spiritual and religious disciplines that may prove helpful. Care providers spiritual health has a positive effect on professional commitment and caring. Spiritual and faith-based practices are both individual and communal. Self-care can pivot to peer support as healthcare providers hold an openness for what brings meaning to themselves and co-workers. Flexing to find new practices from new pools of healing can drive wholeness.
Mindfulness and Meditation
Spiritual interventions can protect our brains and bodies from the harmful effects of stress and adversity. UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center (MARC) exists to disseminate information on education and research.8 Mindfulness is the practice of training the mind to be present through moment-to-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, body sensations and environment.
As individuals strive to hear themselves in their communications with others and their own self-talk, notice their breathing, and acknowledge difficult emotions that arise throughout the day, they allow themselves to validate the emotions and then process them, which assists in alleviating additional stress.
- Scientific research shows mindfulness can help manage stress-related physical conditions, reduce anxiety and depression, cultivate positive emotions, and help improve overall physical health and well-being.
- Mindfulness promotes an attitude of openness, curiosity, and a willingness to accept our reality and experiences.
REFERENCES
- Puchalski, Christina M., et al. “Improving the spiritual dimension of whole person care: Reaching national and international consensus.” Journal of Palliative Medicine 17.6 (2014): 642-656, page 6. http://hsrc.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1429&context=smhs_medicine_facpubs
- Ross, Linda, et al. “Student nurses perceptions of spirituality and competence in delivering spiritual care: a European pilot study.” Nurse Education Today 34.5 (2014): 697-702. http://bit.ly/2nPjk44
- White, Mary L. “Spirituality Self-Care Practices as a Mediator between Quality of Life and Depression.” Religions 7.5 (2016): 54. http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/7/5/54/htm
- Pembroke, Neil. “Contributions from Christian ethics and Buddhist philosophy to the management of compassion fatigue in nurses.” Nursing & health sciences (2015).
- Duggleby, W., Cooper, D., & Penz, K. (2009). Hope, self-efficacy, spiritual well-being and job satisfaction. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 65(11), 2376–2385. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2009.05094.x
- Taylor, J. J., Hodgson, J. L., Kolobova, I., Lamson, A. L., Sira, N., & Musick, D. (2015). Exploring the phenomenon of spiritual care between hospital chaplains and hospital based healthcare providers. Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy, 21(3), 91–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/08854726.2015.1015302
- Chiang, Yi-Chien, et al. “The impact of nurses’ spiritual health on their attitudes toward spiritual care, professional commitment, and caring.” Nursing outlook 64.3 (2016): 215-224. http://bit.ly/2mRvmZN
- UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center https://www.uclahealth.org/marc/
