A newly published study at Middlesex University of London explored the need for a “national strategy for the provision of spiritual care and compassionate support during major health disasters”.
Triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, the study drew upon what was learnt and experienced by senior nurses and chaplains between March 2020 and July 2021, when unprecedented pressures and a lack of preparedness in the health system during the pandemic saw spiritual care “drastically” diminish.
During the research study, many senior nurses associated the term “spirituality” with religion and the sacraments. But it was later emphasised that spirituality in its wider sense is “an integral part of all human beings that is connected to religions, faiths, personal philosophies, a relationship with ourselves, others and the environment, as well as a relationship with a transcendent superior force, which helps us understand the meaning and purpose of our existence and that of others”.
Spiritual or compassionate care involves serving the whole person – the physical, emotional, social and spiritual. Compassionate care calls for doctors to walk with people amid their pain, to be partners with their patients rather than experts dictating information to them.
Compassionate care calls for doctors to walk with people amid their pain, to be partners with their patients rather than experts dictating information to them
One of the challenges doctors face is to help people find meaning and acceptance in the midst of suffering and chronic illness. Medical ethicists remind us that religion and spirituality form the basis of meaning and purpose for many people. Reflecting on his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp, psychiatrist Victor Frankl wrote: “Man is not destroyed by suffering; he is destroyed by suffering without meaning”.
A vast amount of literature has been written about introducing spirituality in the dynamic of holistic care of patients. Commenting on the extensive research carried out by the late Dr Donia Baldacchino in her book Spirituality in Illness and Care, Rev. Emmanuel Agius asserts that “spirituality is a unique and deeply personal experience, and because of its impact in almost every aspect of human life, spirituality becomes especially critical during times of illness and nursing care”.
Grace Ann Jaccarini, coordinator of Nursing and Midwifery Studies adds that “it is generally assumed that spiritual care is the domain of the hospital chaplain but research has in fact shown that nurses have neglected to identify and meet patients’ spiritual needs. Donia’s studies reveal to healthcare professionals that an understanding of a patient’s spirituality is an avenue for compassionate caregiving”.
During a meeting at the Vatican with medical professionals and volunteers of the Lombardy region during the darkest, most deadly days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis stressed that they were “silent artisans of a culture of closeness and tenderness” and that this culture cannot be allowed to disappear.
Incorporating the spiritual dimension within the caring profession has become essential, and spiritual care must be given its rightful place in the education and formation of nurses and other healthcare professionals throughout their whole course of education.