The Importance of Spirituality in Hospice Work: A Study of Hospice Professionals

Abstract

Only recently has the spiritual aspect of care received attention in our professional literature. In order to explore the relationship between spirituality and job satisfaction for professionals employed in the hospice field, the authors sent questionnaires to hospice directors in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The findings strongly indicate that hospice professionals are a spiritual group, being more spiritual in their personal lives than in their professional work. Professionals who described themselves as more spiritual also experienced greater satisfaction in hospice work. Job-related satisfaction, however, was dependent on factors other than spirituality. The findings support the contention that spiritual care is too critical to be left to clergy.

Impact of death and dying on the personal lives and practices of palliative and hospice care professionals

“…[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] They are also comparable to findings from studies in which end-of-life experiences presented many challenges to health care providers but were secondary to the numerous beneficial aspects of their work, especially as they related to meaning and purpose. 6,7,9,11,14,32 This study differed from others in its explicit focus on the impact of death and dying on health care providers; its cross-sectional sample of national leaders and frontline professionals in palliative and hospice care; and the inclusion of participants' experiences with death and dying across the trajectory of their lives.…”

“…[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] To address these gaps in the literature, this study explored the impact of death and dying on the lives of key leaders and frontline professionals in palliative and hospice care -individuals who arguably provide society and health care practitioners with the most authoritative discourse on end of life and its effect on life in general. This study was part of a larger ethnographic inquiry on the spirituality of palliative and hospice care professionals in Canada.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5] A small number of studies discussed the residual impact of end-of-life care within a localized group of health care providers; however, there is limited cross-sectional research explicitly investigating the long-term effect of death and dying on the personal and professional lives of individuals who are exposed to death and dying on a frequent basis. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] To address these gaps in the literature, this study explored the impact of death and dying on the lives of key leaders and frontline professionals in palliative and hospice care -individuals who arguably provide society and health care practitioners with the most authoritative discourse on end of life and its effect on life in general. This study was part of a larger ethnographic inquiry on the spirituality of palliative and hospice care professionals in Canada.…”

The Role of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work Education and Practice

“…Respondents were asked to note that, for the purposes of this study, spirituality was more broadly defined than r e ligion. These definitions are consistent with others in the literature (Canda, 1988(Canda, , 1989Carroll, 1998;Dudley & Helfgott, 1990;Emblen, 1992;Joseph , 1988;Millison & Dudley, 1990).…”

“…Examples include Titone's (1991) discussion of areas to be addressed in conducting a spiritual assessment, Canda 's (1990) ethical guidelines for the use of prayer in practice, Smith's (Smith, 1995;Smith & Gray, 1995) trans personal model for d ealing with death, divorce, and other issues of loss, and Danzig's (1986) strategies for handling conflicts between personal religious values and professional values . An even larger body of literature exists regarding the role of religion and spirituality in the lives of diverse client populations, which provides implications and suggestions for practice with such groups (e.g., Berthold, 1989;Canda & Phaobtong, 1992;Chu & Carew, 1990;Delgado & HummDelgado, 1982;Haber, 1984;Millison & Dudley, 1990;Nakhaima & Dicks, 1995;Sheridan , 1995;Wagner, Serafini, Rabkin, Remien, & Williams, 1994;Wikler, 1986;Yellow Bird, 1995). In addition, valuable information regarding possible course focu s, discussion topics, reading materials, instructional methods, and key teaching issues is presented in Russel 's (1998) findings from a survey of social work programs offering specialized courses on spirituality, religion, or both .…”