Read all readings for this module and research other articles or websites associated with
the healing hospital paradigm. As you read, consider how this paradigm might influence
your philosophy of caregiving. Any hospital with a healing component to its mission can be
used as a resource.
Write an essay of 1,000-1,250 words in which you address the following:
- Describe the components of healing hospitals and their relationship to spirituality.
- What are the challenges of creating a healing environment in light of the barriers and
complexities of the hospital environment? - Include at least one biblical passage or parable that you believe supports the concept of a
healing hospital and provide rationale for your selection.
Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide,
located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
Remember that Wikipedia is not considered a scholarly source.
REFERENCES MUST NOT BE MORE THAN 3-5 YRS OLD, other than the one from
cited from the bible which might be older than 5 yrs. that’s okay.
This assignment uses a grading rubric. Instructors will be using the rubric to grade the
assignment; therefore, students should review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment
to become familiar with the assignment criteria and expectations for successful completion
of the assignment.
Spirituality in nursing -Healing Hospital: A Daring Paradigm
Nursing and healthcare is a fast changing field mirrored with various challenges for the
health professionals in delivering effective and cost efficient care to the people. As the paradigm
shifts, hospitals are changing to healing communities as opposed to traditional place to receive
cure for various diseases. Viewing the hospital as healing community is likely to change how
people perceive moral issues; the way work conditions are approached and managed. As a
healing community, every member has a responsibility to promote healing through their actions,
words and attitudes. This paper delineates on various components of hospital healing, how they
SPIRITUALITY IN NURSING 2
relate to spirituality, challenges and barriers of creating a healing environment and the biblical
support on this concept of healing hospital.
The healing hospital goes an extra mile in the provision of healthcare as it is an
extension of wellness strategy. It emphasis a holistic approach geared at achieving and
maintaining a good health and extends to the community. The mission of a healing hospital is to
enhance/improve health. The three main components of healing hospital includes having a
culture of radical loving care, a healing physical environment and being able to integrate work
design and technology(Ziqi et al 2013).
The component of healing physical environment does not only aim at providing cure but
deals with how people interact and attitudes between the staffs, caregivers and their family
members (Ziqi et al, 2013). If a loving, compassionate and aesthetically pleasing environment is
created, it helps to reduce stress among the patients and families enabling them to cope with
stressful situations and illnesses. Understanding that human beings are more than physical bodies
also plays a role in providing a conducive physical environment. Therefore, the spiritual aspect
of human nature comes into perspective when providing healthcare.
The environment must also reciprocate or be conducive for the patient to promote the
healing process. Spirituality is how individuals find comfort, hope and inner peace in their lives.
Some patients will get on spirituality through music, nature values, art or principles. The mind,
body and spirit are connected and each of them affects the other hence the need to ensure that
they are all healthy. Mercy Gilbert Medical center is an example of a hospital that provides a
quite environment that helps to support the healing of patients. It is calmer and stress free for
both the patients staffs, and families hence promoting healing (Dignity health, 2014).
SPIRITUALITY IN NURSING 3
Healing hospitals also need to have the second component whereby there is integration
of work design and technology. The work should be designed well and more efficiently to
enhance health provided. Technology also must be used well to assist in the provision of healing
environment. Mercy Gilbert Medical Center staffs work efficiently because of the organization
and use advanced technology to provide better services to their patients. The most critical
components of a healing hospital is the ability to embrace a culture of radical loving care. This
philosophy allows a hospital to be compassionate in providing care, reminds the staffs of their
responsibility as healthcare with the aim of promoting the healing of patients. When there is
love, health providers will endeavor to do their best to ensure that the patients get healed
(Woolley et al. 2012). This is related to the spirituality in the sense that, people feel comfortable
and peaceful if they are shown compassionate and in the process, it enhances their recovery.
Many hospital environments have various barriers and complexities that stop them from
providing a healing environment. These complexities and barriers mostly experienced in these
hospital environments include reducing stress element such as noise, a lack of privacy,
unpleasant lighting and such. Others include lack of family friendly program, lack of healing
measures among others. There are challenges that have hindered the creation of a healing
environment in many of health facilities. One of the challenges is lack of appreciating the fact
that the body, mind and spirit of an individual interact and if one of them is not healthy, it affects
the others. If all health facilities understood this, they would endeavor to put in place measures
to promote healing. The other challenge is lack of resources to put in place systems and employ
professional staff to render these kinds of health services to patients (Marciarille, 2011).
Some of these technologies are expensive and are beyond the reach of some of the health
facilities. Likewise, training costs for the staff to use these technologies is also expensive to
SPIRITUALITY IN NURSING 4
many insitutions. Different healthcare facilities operate under different models, principles and
values and some of them are not flexible to embrace the new spectrum of provision of healing
care. The traditional mindset that a health care as a sole purpose is to provide cure is a big
obstacle and challenge towards creation of a healing hospital environment.
The concept of a healing hospital is also biblically supported. The bible provides various
perspectives concerning healing which play a key role and help to bolster this concept of creation
of healing hospitals. In larger part of Jesus’ ministry, healing was the central part. He was able
to cure all sorts of diseases including leprosy, deaf, blind d by touching and speaking to the
people. For instance, Jesus sent out his disciples around the world and assigned them three tasks
including teaching, preaching and healing (Mark 6:7) (The Salvation Army, 2014). This is
therefore an indication of how healing is important and it concerns the physical body, mind as
well as spiritual aspects. An individual who has in these three aspects taken care of is healthy
and is deemed to lead a better life.
In conclusion, there is a paradigm shift from the traditional healthcare, which mostly
focuses on providing cure to modern healing hospital approach. Recognizing that, it is not about
providing cure is a step ahead in providing better healthcare. The physical environment should
be conducive to ensure that the patient, staffs and the caregivers work in cordial relationship. The
environment should be calm and quiet to allow quick recovery. Integration of work designs and
technology is also essential to creating healing environment. Staffs should be effective and
technology adopted to improve the privacy of the patients and on general functioning of the
processes. The culture of radical love is also required to ensure that the staffs and the patients
love one another. The most important issue that pertains to a healing hospital is to realize that
the body, mind and spirit of a person are connected and must at all the time be healthy. Healing
SPIRITUALITY IN NURSING 5
is an aspect recorded in the bible and needs to be replicated in all healthcare centers to enhance
the health and wellness of the patients.
References
Dignity health. (2014). Mercy Gilbert Medical Center.