Spirituality is one of the important issues contributing to healthcare ethics and the overall quality of services provided for patients. It is even more relevant for the specifications of end-of-life care or treatment in intensive care units for clients suffering from severe illnesses. It is important to apply spirituality in both educational and practical spheres as one of the requirements for medical professionals to provide quality support for patients.
In my opinion, spirituality is a combination of the individual’s religious and cultural beliefs through the perspective of which one perceives life and makes judgments about it. A patient in pain may lose hope and feel desperate, and the task of a nurse is to connect with a person on a spiritual level to comfort and support him or her. Thus, it is vital for a professional in healthcare to develop such skills of spiritual care as hearing, touch, speech, and overall presence and understanding of problems (Sinclair, Bouchal, Chochinov, Hagen, & McClement, 2014). It is essential to develop a patient-centered approach capable of giving a person and his or her family hope, feelings of safety, and comfort to succeed at the provision of spiritual care (Abuatiq, 2015). My perception of spirituality would influence my care for patients in a positive way due to my prioritization of empathy and compassion as the essential qualities of efficient healthcare professional.
In summary, ethics and spirituality are the components of quality care, especially for end-of-life and intensive care units because they foster the optimistic attitude of the patient to hospitalization. A medical worker is responsible for the provision of a patient-oriented treatment with the application of support and comfort. It is possible to accomplish this through the development of such skills as hearing, touch, speech, and empathy. A professional must prioritize patients’ well-being throughout the treatment process.
References
Abuatiq, A. (2015). Spiritual care for critical care patients. International Journal of Nursing & Clinical Practices, 2(128), 1-4.
Sinclair, S., Bouchal, S. R., Chochinov, H., Hagen, N., & McClement, S. (2014). Spiritual care: How to do it. Supportive and Palliative Care 2(4), 319-327.