Spiritual Care (palliative)

Chapter 6: Spiritual Care

Description:

Sacred moments occur in the midst of the ordinary and that which might be considered deeply spiritual to one person might be no more than social to another. The notion of ‘sacred’ is thus profoundly personal. This chapter is jointly written by two people with complementary views—a nurse with pastoral care interests, and a pastor with an interest in nursing. Sometimes differences in perspective will show through, but the combined perspective offers useful practical guidance on the nature of spiritual care at the end of life.

Topics:

• What is spiritual care?
• Sacred moments in the midst of the ordinary
• Religion and spirituality
• Intentional spiritual care
  • Identifying spiritual needs
    • Problems with assessment tools
    • Overcoming the problems with assessment tool
  • Documenting spiritual care
• Strategies for spiritual care
• Implications for the nursing process
  • Raising consciousness
  • Holistic practice
  • Accountability
  • Reflective practice
• Practice principles
• Conclusion

Author / Speaker:

Dr Rosalie Hudson
Rosalie's varied nursing and theological career is now focused on aged care and palliative care. As an aged-care consultant her aim is to explore end-of-life issues for people in residential aged care, and to raise the profile of gerontic nursing both in Australia and internationally. Her PhD thesis covered the themes of personhood, death and community, exploring the transforming power of relationships observed during her twelve years of experience as a director of nursing of a 50-bed nursing home.

Rosalie has published articles in nursing and theological journals on subjects of spirituality, palliative care and pastoral care. She has co-authored two books on death and dying, is lead author for Clinical Approaches to Dementia (Ausmed Publications, 2003) and has contributed chapters to several other Ausmed publications. Rosalie is the Victorian project manager for the Australian Palliative Aged Care Project, which is developing guidelines for palliative care in residential aged care.

Dr Bruce Rumbold
Bruce is a senior lecturer in the Palliative Care Unit at La Trobe University, Melbourne (Victoria, Australia). He holds postgraduate qualifications in physics, pastoral care and health social science and has published in all three fields. His longstanding interest in palliative care began with doctoral work in England in the mid 1970s, and has continued as palliative care has developed in Australia and elsewhere. Spiritual care is a particular focus of his work.

Bruce is author of Helplessness and Hope: pastoral care in terminal illness, SCM Press, 1986, and editor of Spirituality and Palliative Care: social and pastoral perspectives, OUP, 2002.

Professional Reviews: