Spiritual Perspectives On Health And Health

“Health is influenced by culture and beliefs” (NRS-429V, 2011, p. 1). In order for the nurse to properly care for the patient, she must know and understand the patient’s culture. “Cultural care is a comprehensive model that includes the assessment of a client’s cultural needs, beliefs, and health care practices” (NRS-429V, 2011, p. 1). It is not enough to just know where the patient lives or where he came from. The nurse must embrace the concept of cultural competence and cultural awareness. This requires not only the awareness of the cultural beliefs and values of their patients, but also

Naidoo and Wills(2001, p.47) “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’ - WHO (1946).” This definition falls into a holistic way of defining health, which believes that there are more areas to look at when thinking of health than just simply the absence of a disease. It considers the cause of why someone is ill and not just simply about ’fixing it’.

The definition of health is the state of being free from illness and injury, it can also be used to explain a person’s mental or physical condition.

Health in all cultures is an important aspect of life. A person’s cultural background, religion and/or beliefs, greatly influences a person’s health and their response to medical care (Spector, 2004). These diverse cultures guide decisions made in daily life; what food eaten, living arrangements made, medications taken and medical advice listened to. A nurse must be knowledgeable and respectful of these diverse cultures and understand their importance when providing care. This understanding helps to build a strong nurse/patient relationship, increasing patient compliance, which ensures positive outcomes are met. Patients who are satisfied

To achieve positive and sustainable health outcomes it is important to understand the relationships between the subjects of person, environment, health, and nurse. People are unique and they prioritize their values differently. People are constantly seeking to define their truths and their purpose. These unique perspectives of the world guide the actions of everyone. There is a constant interaction between people and their environment. People and their environment both impact the wellbeing of each other. Health is multifaceted. Health is the culmination of physical, physiological, psychological, social, and spiritual status. These aspects of health are interconnected. Absolute health may never be achieved. However, nurses work to progress their

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” (World Health Organisation, 2011)

Firstly, looking at the positive definition of health, it is a positive concept, highlighting social and personal resources together with physical capacities. According to the World

First of all, I recognized that I was dealing with humans, and not just dealing with a disease process and application of the nursing process in the aspect of restoring patient health. I was dealing with emotions, and families, and cultural beliefs that influenced individual’s aspects of care. I started to see that health did not just incorporate healing the disease, but also recognized the importance of making sure patient’s felt that their

Cultural aspects of holistic assessment is relevant in the provision of nursing care as it provides the care team with an overview of cultural needs of the patient as well as providing information in which the patients’ health problems have arisen. Culture is defined as values, beliefs, artifacts, behaviors, attitudes and customs influencing and regulating interactions between members of a social group (Stein-Parbury 2010: 91; Johnstone 2006: 67). It is the nurses responsibility to adhere to the ANMC, competency 2.3, ‘accepts individuals/groups to whom care is provided regardless of race, culture, religion, age, gender, sexual preference, physical or mental state’ (ANMC 2006, p. 4). Kozier & Erb (2012: 360) discuss that cultural sensitivity, appropriateness, competency and safety are all factors that are required to be taken into consideration so that the patient can be provided with the best possible health care. Kozier & Erb (2012: 360) also explain that conflicts in health care have been apparent due to cultural misunderstandings. An example of a cultural misunderstanding is the level of pain. In some cultures, it is normal to dramatically express ones level of pain whereas in other cultures people do

A healing hospital is a healing community providing radical loving care (Journal of Sacred Work, 2009) in a safe environment that focuses on human interaction, interpersonal caring and enhancing the wellbeing of patients, caregivers, and all other members of the healing community. While a healing hospital is, of course, dedicated to providing excellent medical care to its patients (Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, 2012), it is also dedicated to integrating work design and technology (Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, 2012), and ultimately to the overall wellness of every healing community member. Using physical healing, education and supportive human interaction, this care model seeks healing on physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels for everyone involved in the process (Zarren, n.d., pp. 1-2). The success of this model requires the cooperation of every

Another concept is health; the nurse will become familiar with the history of the patient’s life span and their genetic makeup. According to Kearney-Nunnery (2012) it is important to “look at how the client is defined in the environmental context and consider the health actions: are they perceived as emerging, maintaining, enhancing or perhaps palliative.” p 4 Health is a relative term, for instance, an 80 year old man completes 5 push-ups. His strength would be considered to be in good health, however if it was an 18 year old man completing only 5 push-ups, he would be considered unhealthy (Nurse Group 2015). It is also important to know what the patients understanding of health and wellness is.

By applying this spiritual needs assessment questionnaire with the patient, Seema understood her trust in the Granth Sahib whom she prays to on daily basis. She belongs to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She read the Gutka, and attending Sikh temple are essential to her everyday life. Because of this, she wished to be acceptable 30 minutes to pray twice a day and read Gutka Sahib in afternoon. She wears clothes related to her religious like turban on the hair religious garments. Coping with her illness is more acceptable with her spirituality, beliefs, and faith in her GOD. She says death is not the end and her family who very close to her one day be with her again. It improves the grief expressive that God with

In terms of the negative aspect of health, an individual is regarded as healthy when not suffering from a particular illness or disease. Though “illness” and “disease” are used interchangeably, they are different (Naidoo & Wills 2000). Disease relates to biological malfunctioning, diagnosed by doctors, while illness refers both to the personal experience of the disease and its social implications. Therefore the negative concept of health is closely associated with orthodox medicine.

Spiritual wellbeing is an integral part of mental, emotional and physical health. It is considered to be a primary coping resource on the journey of recovering and healing. Spiritual wellbeing can also be associated with religion but does not have to be. It is considered to be a journey to find importance in life and the role you will play among them with the overarching purpose to find meaning to life.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines Health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”