Pastoral Care of the dying is beyond treating the body and providing comfort but also helping the soul prepare for death. Spirituality plays a key role in this process of death. While the subject should not be breached unless invoked by the patient, it is important for healthcare providers to have some understanding of faith and spirituality. It is important to see how faith plays a role in dying and how to react to faith based statements from patients.
The article, “Spirituality Is An Important Part of Cancer Care, But Nurses Need More Support” by Kaitlyn D’Onofrio looks at how nurses view spiritual care. Her article states from a case study of nurses that
“For nurses to provide spiritual care, institutional acknowledgement of the importance of spiritual care is needed. Nurses have highlighted the lack of adequate settings to address spirituality. Spiritual care needs to be a part of the institutional vision to enable the provision of this care to become relevant and accountable by institutions,”
To read the entire article, please click here
Please also review AIHCP’s Pastoral Thanatology Program and see if it matches your academic and professional goals. The program is online and independent study and leads to a four year certification