An Administrator's Guide to Implementing Spiritual Care into Nursing Practice

Spirituality in Nursing Practice BY BONNIE WEAVER BATTEY, PH. D., RN. WRITTEN BY AN EDUCATOR FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE!!! PURPOSE: This Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) program is designed to study the equation, Holistic Health = Environment x (Mind x Body x Spirit). It is to serve as a baseline educational tool to orient nursing staff to an ecumenical perspective of human spirituality. The review and examination lessons provide a score for evaluation of individuals' knowledge and evidence of staff preparation for accreditation purposes. This CAI may also serve as a basis for dialogue among health care professionals, educators, and/or administrators in the process of collaborating in the developing policies, procedures, programs, and skills in implementing spirituality in health care practice as well as academic programs. It is designed for use in education at the baccalaureate and graduate levels, distance and continuing education, as well as agency in-house educational programs for staff development. THE FOCUS: Spiritual care involves listening for the frame of reference of the client (and their families, etc.) to determine how spirituality can be their support in health concerns. The nurses and other health care providers are encouraged to be aware of their own spirituality and hold fast to their own frame of reference. For a health care provider to impose one's own beliefs, values, etc. about spirituality is professionally and ethically inappropriate. The succinct role of the nurse is to recognize, respond, record, report, and refer, i.e., the 5 "Rs" of spiritual care. CONTENTS: The following is a list of Lesson titles on the CD and in the Course Guide. Lesson 1: Spirituality: The State of the Art Lesson 2: Research Relating Spirituality and Health Lesson 3: Spiritual Care in Nursing Practice: The Theory, Science, and Art Lesson 4: Nursing Communication and Ethics Theories Lesson 5: Spirituality: Professional and Practice Issues Lesson 6: Spiritual Assessment an