Spiritual healing within hospital environment

“America’s hospitals have come under attack with shortage of nurses, healthcare providers increased number of patients seen daily: patients feel the impact with shorter physician visits or less attention by nurse, social workers and other healthcare providers. While healthcare providers may experience burn out, patients feeling alienated” (Puchalski& McSkimming,2006) . This has created a task driven work environment leaving out the emotional and spiritual aspect of the patient. At times placing the patient at risk, more and more often we are seeing sicker patient being discharged home earlier. With increased re admittance rates, adding increased burden on family and health system. This cycle causes frustration and increased nurse burn out, decreased compassion for patients, with in the health care system. There is obvious need to reassess the current hospital model and incorporating and more healing model “which would reintegrate spiritual awareness onto the role of each health care provider”(Dunn,2010)

Hospital Environment

Current hospital environment is cold sterile, nosey and not conducive to patient being able to rest. Upon admittance the patient many emotions including fear, anxiety, hopeless. If there is also a task driven work environment among staff that only contributes to those feeling of being lost and only being a patient number. It becomes the nurse’s responsibility to promote a healing unseen environment for the patient even if the seen environment is not a healing environment.

Healing Hosptial

With new understanding in the fore front of the health care industry and increased understanding of the importance of spiritual healing and effects on physical healing the new rising trend is prompting a healing environment.

As early as biblical times spiritual healing has been an important factor. The Hebrew language has a word to describe a healing environment, "Shalom". This word can be defined as peace, well-being, healing, wholeness, or welfare. The Old Testament, which is written in Hebrew, teaches that the whole world was created to be a place of shalom. The Bible also teaches that this ideal state is no more because of sin, or the disruption of shalom. Just 3 chapters into the Bible, the world is full of chaos, pain, and fragmentation.

Jesus comes to the world on a mission to restore, and redeem this world. He heals people in his life time as a sign that he has come to bring shalom, and order. For instance, Matthew 14:14 says that Jesus "saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick." Sickness, death, and disease disrupt shalom.

Earlier Jesus had told the crowd, "All you who are tired, come unto me and I will grant you rest." (Matt 11:28)Jesus is showing the centrality of rest, healing, and promoting shalom in creation. The bible ends with God making the world a place of shalom again. The final part of the Bible tells us that one day, "There will be no more death’[b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Rev 21:4) All throughout the christian scripture we see the vital connection between health, and shalom. You might even say it is the central theme of the bible. There is a sure connection between body and soul health, and even the environment one finds themselves in.

With biblical teachings of early need for “Shalom “ we take into consideration what a healing hospital of the 21 century would be like patient to feel “safe and comfortable”(Eberst,2008) A hospital that compassion,love looks pleasing to the eye. Freeof unesscary nosie , allows the patient to sleep promotiung cell rejunvation. Promotes a stress free enviorment for staff which is evided in less turn over and burnout. With the “primary concern, we must incorporate spirituality within the relationship of health and health care” (Shelley & Miller, 2010).