Spirituality and Religion

Spirituality and Religion

Many times when faced with an important decision, people look to God for guidance and support. This is especially true when dealing with illness. Because of this, nurses must be aware of their patient's belief in order to care for them. Nurses must first feel comfortable with assessing and discussing spirituality and religion. Regardless of how they feel, nurses need to be sensitive to their patients' belief system and the potential impact it has on their health (Hamdy, 2004).

"Spirituality and religion are seen as a core aspect of life" (Kliewer, 2004, p. 616). Spirituality is seen everyday in some very unlikely places. For example, we often see sports figures and athletes signing the cross or pointing to the sky and saying "thank you God." Often times when watching awards programs many recipients say their thanks to God for helping them achieve whatever it is they have done.

According to Kliewer (2004), spirituality is a search for what is sacred or holy in life. Along with this is a relationship with God or a higher power. Spirituality is the personal quest of understanding answers to important questions about life, meaning and about relationships with the sacred (Handzo, 2004). It is easy to see that spirituality is more self-determined and varies from person to person. Spirituality is expressed diversely according to one's culture and society.

Religion is more concrete. "Religion explores the nature of God, and gives the follower rituals for implementing His will" (Groopman, 2004). Kliewer (2004) defines religion as focusing more on prescribed beliefs, rituals and practices. Religion comes in many forms and has many different belief values from culture to culture. It is important for the nurse to be aware of the different customs that may be practiced with other religions.

Whatever the definition, religion many times may influence the patients' medical decisions (Koenig, 2004). Nurses see this often with the Jehovah Witness faith and their refusal of blood or blood products. Many religions see illness as a punishment for sins that may have been committed, and may refuse medical care. It is important for the nurse to be non-judgmental and to support the patient's wishes, regardless of their own personal belief system.

To this writer, spirituality is having the inner peace and joy that comes from having a relationship with Jesus Christ. It is the knowledge that at all times; He is with us and sometimes carrying us. It is the ability to talk to Him daily and confide innermost thoughts, feelings, fears and concerns. It is the knowing that He has heard those words and cares about the speaker. It is the faith that Jesus will be there in the end waiting for each of us. It is loving one another and being loved in return, and having meaning in life.

It is possible to be spiritual and not be religious. Many patients do not have a religion affiliation listed on their medical forms. Some will list non-denominational as a religion, but still pray and look to a supreme being for comfort and compassion. These patients feel that they have a good relationship with the Lord.

When treating the patient, the nurse should assess how important spirituality is to them. The more important spirituality is, the more it will have an impact on their comfort and recovery. When a spiritual history is obtained, recommendations for prevention and ideas for compliance may be found (Groopman, 2004). Often patient's decisions are based on their beliefs. Patients are unique, with life stories, social relationships and are affected differently by illness. Because of this, nurses can no longer just treat a