The paradigm of medical care, similar to any other professional endeavor that requires close interpersonal communication, is replete with ethical dilemmas and challenges. One of such challenges includes a sensitive matter of spirituality and one’s beliefs. When speaking of experience in facilitating spirituality, one of my strengths includes open-mindedness, as I can listen to others without imposing judgment or ignorance. Sometimes, however, I find it rather difficult to fully engage with the patient’s spiritual practices, creating a communication gap based on our different beliefs. According to Grand Canyon University (2020), nurses’ religious and spiritual preferences shall never be prioritized when interacting with the patient. For this reason, it would be imperative for me to find the ways of facilitating spiritual care will include not only tolerance and acceptance but empathy and meaningful connection with a patient.
I also consider my ability to respect the patient’s wishes despite having a different point of view an asset in terms of providing holistic care. Indeed, if I were a patient, I would consider myself as a primary decision-maker in the context of treatment and rehabilitation. If the situation was difficult and I were physically incapable of voicing my concerns, I would rather confide the decision-making process to the medical professionals. Family and friends might be too emotionally invested and thus, make choices that would prevent them from losing me. For my part, I prefer timely death to a seemingly never-ending struggle, and I believe clinicians to be more impartial when making a difficult decision.
This course has, by all means, become a revelation for me even though the majority of the information should not have been new to a nurse. Some of the greatest insights taken from this class include but are not limited to:
- The need to put more effort in recognition of the patient’s spiritual values and beliefs in terms of treatment;
- The scope of diversity hidden behind the people’s definition of life and death, which should be addressed and respected during the treatment;
- The need to shift the focus from solely professional routine towards perceiving a patient’s life as a phenomenon beyond physical well-being and medical history.
Hence, the valuable lessons taken from this class have not so much changed but reinvented how I perceive care and health. I hope I will be able to put into practice all the takeaways from this course.
Reference
Grand Canyon University. (2020). Practicing dignity: An introduction to Christian values and decision making in health care[E-book].