Role of Spirituality in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease Essay Example for Free

Role of Spirituality in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease Essay Spirituality, as defined in this article entitled Role of Spirituality in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease, is the capacity to rise above life experiences, to celebrate life, and to experience joy. Spirituality is comprised of acceptance, the need for love, mercifulness, and self-fulfillment and it applies to all mankind; on the other hand, being religious is relative to the person’s religious group and its practices (Cooper-Effa, et al. , 2001). They have divided a person’s spiritual well-being into involving a religious component or a relationship with God and an existential component, which involves the individual’s sense of life purpose. It was concluded in this study that those patients with a relatively high existential component were able to cope up more with the pain and the over-all outcome of the disease. It has been known that spirituality can increase the ability to tolerate pain (cited in Landis, 1996). This concept can be applied by getting the patient’s cooperation and trust, and then the nurse will facilitate a talk about spirituality. This will empower the patient to establish his spirituality and the nurse will also be able to develop closer ties with the patient, improving rapport. The nurse can further help the patient by getting him a spiritual counselor, as per patient’s request. By helping the patient strengthen his spirituality, an improvement in the patient’s over-all outlook on the disease, on life, and a probability of lesser pain may take place. Holistic practice in nursing is very important nowadays. As a nurse, there are several skills that should be present to help client’s achievement of spiritual needs. The nurse should be open to all kinds of religion and beliefs, he must try to maintain open minded. He or she should respect these beliefs and religious practices by not questioning the nature of these and by participating in these activities whenever the client wishes the nurse to. Also, nurses cannot let their own beliefs take over them. If there are circumstances wherein the nurse finds that he is unable to accept a client’s belief or practice, then it would be best for the nurse to ask for help from another nurse discreetly. Patience, understanding, and wisdom are needed for a successful patient and nurse interaction. References Journal of the American Board of Family Practice. (2001). Role of Spirituality in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease. Retrieved February 01, 2008, from http://www. medscape. com/viewarticle/405838_1.