SPIRITUALITY

• Spirituality


  The part of being human that seeks meaningfulness through intra, inter, and transpersonal connection
• Spirituality


  • Generally involves a belief in a relationship with some higher power or divine being
  • Concept that encompasses various beliefs and aimed at connecting with something greater at oneself
• Aspects of Spirituality


  • Meaning
  • Value
  • Transcendence
  • Connecting
  • Becoming
• Meaning


  The search for significance and purpose in life
• Value


  Give guidance in our behaviour and decision-making
• Transcendence


  The experience of rising above the ordinary to connect with someone greater
• Connecting


  Self, prayer or meditation
• Becoming


  Other building relation - sense community/belonging
• Spiritual Well-being/Spiritual Health


  • Manifested by a feeling of "generally alive, purposeful, and fulfilled"
  • A way of living, a lifestyle that views life as purposeful and pleasurable, that seeks out life-sustaining life-enriching options to be chosen freely at every opportunity
• Spiritual Distress


  • A challenge to the spiritual well-being or to the belief system that provides strength, hope and meaning to life
  • The state of suffering related to an individual's spiritual or religious beliefs
  • Factors associated to spiritual distress include: Physiologic problems, Treatment related concerns, Situational concerns
• Concepts Related to Spirituality

  • Religion
  • Faith
  • Hope
  • Atheist
  • Monotheism
  • Polytheism
  • Agnostic
• Religion


  An organized system of beliefs and practices. It offers a way of spiritual expression that provides guidance for believers in responding to life's questions and challenges
• Faith


  To believe in or to be committed to something or someone. It gives life meaning, providing individual with strength in times of difficulty
• Hope


  Confident expectation that a desire will be fulfilled. A feeling of expectation and desire for something - hoping of recovery
• Atheist


  Denies the existence of God
• Monotheism


  Belief in the existence of one God - Judaism, Islam
• Polytheism


  Belief in more than one God - Greek god - Zeus, Hera, Apollo
• Agnostic


  A person who doubts the existence of God or a supreme being
• Religious Practices that Nurses Should Know

  • Holy Days
  • Sacred Texts
  • Sacred Symbols
  • Prayer and Meditation
  • Beliefs Affecting Diet
  • Beliefs About Illness and Healing
  • Beliefs About Dress and Modesty
• Holy Days


  1. May include fasting or special foods, reflections, rituals, and prayer

  2. Believers who are seriously ill are often exempted

  3. Examples: Good Friday and Christmas (Christians)
• Sacred Texts


  1. Christians rely on the Old and New Testaments of the Bible

  2. Jews on the Hebrew Bible and Rabbinic interpretations

  3. Muslims on the Koran
• Sacred Symbols


  1. Worn to pronounce one's faith, to provide spiritual protection or to be a source of comfort or strength

  2. Jewelry, medals, amulets, totems or body ornamentation (tattoos)
• Prayer and Meditation


  Inner experience for gaining awareness of self
• Beliefs Affecting Diet


  1. Orthodox Jews - not to eat shellfish or pork, permissible foods - fish with fins and scales (Kashrut/Kosher diet)

  2. Mormons - not to drink caffeinated or alcoholic beverages

  3. Catholics - may choose not to eat meat on Fridays

  4. Buddhists and Hindus - often vegetarian

  5. Islam - fasting during the month of Ramadan (Halal diet)
• Beliefs About Illness and Healing

  1. Jehovah's Witness - some clients may ascribe disease to the innate presence of sin and evil, the disease is a punishment for sin in their past

  2. Rituals on healing such as anointing by a leader of the local religious community
• Beliefs About Dress and Modesty

  1. Conservative Jewish men believe it is important to have their heads covered at all times, they wear Yarmulkes

  2. Orthodox Jewish women cover their hair with a wig or scarf as a sign of respect to God

  3. Islamic cultures require that the body (torso, arms, legs) be covered as well as the head with Burkha or Hijab

  4. Hindu women accustomed to wearing Saris prefer to cover all of the body except arms and feet