Health Care Provider and Faith Diversity
Delia Stoica
Grand Canyon University: HLT-310V
February 4, 2012
Abstract
The following paper describes three different religions: Judaism, Islam and Hinduism. It will detail the spiritual perspective on healing that all three of the faiths have. A description of what is important to their healing and what is important for the healthcare provider to know in caring for people of these faiths. Also there will be a summary of how these faiths differ from Christianity.
Introduction
The United States is known as a “melting pot”. This is due to all the different nationalities and faiths that are seen in our country. As healthcare providers we are faced with trying to understand all the different cultures we encounter on a daily basis in a hospital setting. There are many different faiths, some are well known such as Christianity and some are not quite so known such as Hinduism. Different faiths have different rules and regulations that they follow. Knowing all the intricate ins and outs of every religion is going to be impossible, but that should not stop someone from trying to learn all they can regarding the patients they are caring for. Everyone has probably heard of Judaism, Islam and Hinduism, but that does not mean that a nurse or physician would know all the things that would be different in regards to caring for patients of these different faiths.
Hinduism
Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world. There are six major philosophies in the Hindu religion. One of the major one is Vedanta. Vedanta teaches that “ that man's real nature is divine, and that the aim of human life is to realize divinity through selfless work, devotion to God, control of the inner forces, and discrimination between the real and the unreal. It recognizes that Truth is one and accepts all religions, properly understood, as valid means of realizing the truth (Guidelines, 2002)”. Hindus