The Impact of the Hospice Environment on Patient Spiritual Expression

Abstract

Nurses are significant in assisting in patients' spiritual expression. Nurses' needs for training in listening skills, confidence in discussing spiritual issues, and time to provide individualized spiritual care should be assessed to ensure optimal patient expression.

What Is the Essence of Spiritual Care? A Danish Hospice Perspective

“…There are different kinds of spiritual needs; one is the need for being perceived as an individual human being (Arman, Rehnsfeldt, Lindholm, Hamrin, & Eriksson, 2004;Molzahn & Shields, 2008;Tan, Braunack-Mayer, & Beilby, 2005). Some existential needs are related to the physical changes of the body and the consequent changes in the patients' self-image (Buxton, 2007;van Leeuwen, Tiesinga, Jochemsen, & Post, 2007).…”

Review: What evidence is there about the specific environmental needs of older people who are near the end of life and are cared for in hospices or similar institutions? A literature review

“…25,27,35,36 One patient requested to be cared for in the room where his wife had died, because it had positive associations for him. 37 Many patients stated that they felt safe and secure in the in-patient unit because they were able to summon help at any time. 27,34,36,38 Patients and families enjoyed contact with the natural world in the form of sunshine, gardens, indoor plants, bird boxes and ponds, which could be viewed through the window or by going outside.…”

“…24,26,34,42,49 Many patients disliked the noise generated by staff, for example staff talking and shouting to each other, 26,34 and from staff telephone conversations in which confidential details were overheard, 35 and from music and television programmes which had been chosen by the staff rather than the patients. 24,37,49 Caring A number of studies describe the background to the older person's in-patient admission, which usually came about either as a result of an acute event such as a fall, 44 or as a result of increasing dependency and inability to manage at home. 26 Although all of the care settings employed staff to care for the patients, the staffing levels were often low.…”

How is Chaplaincy Marginalised—By Our Faith Communities and by Our Institutions and Can We Change It?

“…The question about how spiritual care can be delivered produced different results from other surveys (Balboni et al 2011;Hart et al 2003;Tan et al 2005), which all indicated that patients were favourably predisposed to hospice staff (not just chaplains) asking about spirituality. In this study, the majority of patients were unfavourable/ambivalent to doctors or nurses asking about spirituality.…”