Consider how the paradigm of a healing hospital might influence your philosophy of
caregiving and write an essay of 500-750 words that addresses the following:
1.Describe the components of a healing hospital and their relationship to spirituality.
2.What are the challenges of creating a healing environment in light of the barriers and
complexities of the hospital environment?
3.Include biblical aspects that support the concept of a healing hospital.
Healing Hospital: A Daring Paradigm
Healing hospital’s components and connection to spirituality
There has been a rapid advanced technology explosion, patients are now receiving the
best care following the use of proficient procedures and medications that ensure faster healing.
Nonetheless, healthcare environments have been unsuccessful in ensuring loving, healing, and
caring environments. In such environments, patients and the employees would be comfortable
and certain, and with a great desire of being associated with the environments. As such, patients’
healing would be boosted.
Healing hospital environments are made up by patients, doctors, and family members.
The role of family members cannot be underrated in ensuring patient recovery. The healthcare
providers seek to promote the spiritual, emotional, as well as the physical care of patients in their
institutions. Healing environments ought to be conducive such that there is appropriate
ventilation and cleaning is done thoroughly to prevent infections. In addition, as low as possible
levels of noise should be tolerated. Apart from giving the different medications to patients, there
is a great need for the professionals to know about the spiritual and religious backgrounds of
their patients (Weiss & Lonnquist, 2015). This is based on the fact that some patients hold their
HEALING HOSPITAL: A DARING PARADIGM
religions dearly and if the spiritual issues are taken care of, patients are likely to heal faster. The
healing hospital environments’ aspects should be taught in health education schools. This implies
that even before fresh graduates join work institutions, they should have the skills as well as
knowledge related to proper patient care and addressing the spiritual needs. Apart from the
religious beliefs, cultural matters should also be considered as they too affect the recovery and
healing process. Therefore, the healthcare providers also should be cultural competent and
sensitive.
Spirituality ensures positive patient outcomes and impacts. The underlying fact behind
this is that the body, mind, and spirit act as one (Koenig, King & Carson, 2012). In connection to
this, it is necessary for providers to spend considerable time with the patients and family
members answering their questions, holding their hands, in addition to discussing favorite topics.
The cultural and spiritual matters should be addressed with intense love and care. Failing to meet
some of the matters that different patients consider important would make them uncomfortable,
and this can greatly hinder the recovery process. Therefore, addressing them should never be
underrated for greater and more positive healing impacts. Addressing the religious concerns
makes the patients’ souls more tuned to medicine. The integrative medicine ought to address the
fundamental connection between the mind, spirit, and body, which enhances quicker recovery
(Koenig, King & Carson, 2012).
Challenges of promoting healing environments- hospital environments’ complexities and
barriers
As discussed above, healing hospital environments promote greater and more positive
patient outcomes. In such an environments, there patients have a relaxed mood since their most
vital needs are addressed. Hence, it is important for professionals to know about the challenges
HEALING HOSPITAL: A DARING PARADIGM
that might hinder the creation of healing environments. With excess and high levels of noise,
there are high chances of the patients feeling worried, confused, and sad all the times. Literature
documents of cases where patients even develop higher heart rates, high muscle tension, and
hypertension. The hormones released because of stress often suppress their immune systems and
this can make wounds to heal slower.
In the lack of social support, creating healing environments can also be very hard. This
would leave the patients feeling unloved as well as isolated. Therefore, healthcare professionals
need to be particularly social when interacting with patients. Free talks should be invested in, and
during such instances, the professionals can seek to know the dislikes, interests or likes of their
patients. The family members and friends to the patients are very vital and their interactions with
the patients should be encouraged (Weiss & Lonnquist, 2015). This is vital for ensuring faster
heart conditions’ healing and improving cancer patients’ emotional health. Social support can be
offered if the professionals are social and friendly to the patients. In addition, arrangements can
be made and space provided so that the relatives and friends can spend more time with their
loved ones, even at night. To ensure a healing hospital environment, public rooms should not be
exposed, and they should be cleaned well to stop infectious diseases spread. Making hospital
rooms private can help a lot.
Biblical aspects supporting the healing hospital concept
According to the Bible, if religious leaders or pastors visit the patients, offer different
services, or pray for them, then healing can be faster (Dalal, 2015). The story of the woman who
had bled for twelve years emphasizes the need for faith in the healing process. Regardless of the
fact that the woman had visited many healers and stayed with the embarrassing disease for many
years, she had never healed. However, when Jesus was closer, she felt the need to just touch his
HEALING HOSPITAL: A DARING PARADIGM
robe out of faith, and she was healed. Therefore, providers should ensure that patients from
different faiths have their spiritual matters taken care of so that their faith can heal them.
HEALING HOSPITAL: A DARING PARADIGM
References
Dalal, A. K. (2015). Health beliefs and coping with chronic diseases. New York: Praeger
publishers
Koenig, H., King, D., & Carson, V. B. (2012). Handbook of religion and health. Oxford
University Press.
Weiss, G. L., & Lonnquist, L. E. (2015). The sociology of health, healing, and illness. London:
Allen & Unwin.