Defining Spiritual Care

Introduction

Regular healthcare services focus on the wellbeing of the body. Caregivers attempt to make a patient physically comfortable and healthy as they expect them to recover from illness. It is also important to take note of the spiritual comfort of the sick persons as part of the healing process. Some patients take time to heal because they lack spiritual care, which would encourage their positivity in life and help quicken their recovery.

According to Shelly and Miller (2006), spiritual care improves the understanding of personhood among nurses. They get to understand that sometimes patients require more than medication and comfortable beds in a hospital. Nurses should offer compassionate care to patients, and prepare those dying for their afterlife by their religious beliefs (Shelly & Miller, 2006). Religion and nursing have close relations where their purpose is to assist those spiritual and physically in need.

Meilaender (2013) emphasizes that spiritual care should focus on the mind, body, and spirit of patients. Healthcare treats the entire body leaving out the spiritual wellbeing, which is equally important in improving the quality of life. Every individual can experience spirituality, and it acts as a bearing in which people find the meaning and purpose of life and all that surrounds living (Meilaender, 2013).

When the concepts of Meilaender, Shelly, and Miller are combined, it can be understood that spiritual care provides more than the collective physical healing. There is more to life than being physically healthy. Most people around the world believe in a higher power (spiritual), and as they come for treatment, it is their faith in such that ensures them that they will be fine. It is for such reasons that spiritual care becomes an essential part of healthcare. It brings hope during a time when patients undergo suffering and loss.