Chapter 35: Spiritual Health Flashcards
Agnostic
The belief that there is no known ultimate reality.
Atheist
Individuals that do not believe in the existence of a God.
Faith
A cultural or institutional religion. It is also a relationship with divinity, higher power, authority, or spirit that incorporates a reasoning.
Holistic
Enables an individual to establish a helping role and a healing relationship.
Hope
The attitude of something to live for and look forward to.
Self-transcendence
A sense of authentically connecting to one’s inner self.
Spiritual distress
Impaired ability to experience and integrate meaning and purpose in life through contentedness with self, others, art, music, literature, nature, and/or a power greater than oneself. Causes a person to feel doubt, loss of faith, and a sense of being alone or abandoned.
Spirituality
Defined as an awareness of one’s inner self and a sense of connection to a higher being, nature, or some purpose greater than oneself; depends on a person’s culture, development, life experiences, and beliefs.
Spiritual well-being
Described as having two dimensions. The vertical dimension supports the transcendent relationship between a person and God or some other higher power. The horizontal dimension describes positive relationships and connections that people have with others.
Transcendence
The belief that a force outside of and greater than the person exists beyond the material world.
Florence Nightingale
Believed that spirituality was a force that provided energy needed to promote a health hospital environment and that caring for a person’s spiritual needs was just as essential as caring for his or her physical needs.
Intrapersonally
Connected within oneself.
Interpersonally
Connected with others and the environment.
Transpersonally
Connected with the unseen, God, or a higher power.
Religion
Refers to the system of organized beliefs and worship that a person practices to outwardly express spirituality.
What are the differences between religion and spirituality?
Religion care helps patients maintain their faithfulness to their belief systems and worship practices. Spiritual care helps people identify meaning and purpose in life, look beyond the present, and maintain personal relationships and a relationship with a higher being or life force.
How do individuals gain spiritual health?
By finding a balance between their values, goals, beliefs, and their relationships within themselves and others.
Acute illness
Sudden, unexpected illness frequently creates significant spiritual distress. The illness o injury creates an unanticipated scramble to integrate and cope with new realities.
Chronic illness
Many chronic illnesses threaten the person’s independence, causing fear, anxiety, and spiritual distress.
Terminal illness
Commonly causes fears of physical pain, isolation, the unknown, and dying. It creates an uncertainty about what death means, making patients susceptible to spiritual distress.
Near-death experience
A psychological phenomenon of people who either have been close to clinical death or have recovered after being declared dead.
Assessment
Assess the patient’s faith and beliefs, review the patient’s view of life, self-responsibility, and life satisfaction, assess the extent of the patient’s fellowship and community, and review if the patient practices religion and rituals.
B-E-L-I-E-F
Belief system, ethics or values, lifestyle, involvement in a spiritual community, education, future events.
Planning
Collaborate with the patient and family on choice of interventions, consult with pastoral care or other clergy or spiritual leaders as appropriate, and incorporate spiritual rituals and observances.
