Spirituality In Nursing

When I think of the term spirituality, a sense of a personalized, intimate and an innermost interconnection within me and with a higher power comes into mind. Spirituality, in my view, encompasses a connection, intertwined with hope, faith and love, that enables me to express my feelings and thoughts of my day to day experiences to God, whom I believe is my higher power. This personal channel allows me to communicate and look for God’s intended and planned purpose for me, and reflect on why certain things happen, its purpose and what the possible meaning behind that event might be. From my perspective, culture, is an adopted phenomenon in which an individual, since early childhood, has learned and acquired from parents, family, and friends.
It is suggested that “those people who have neem persistently homeless may assimilate into the homeless culture,” in which they “learn to take great pride in their survival skills, and fiercely protect their few belongings as well as their living space.” This cultural aspect of the homeless population is of great importance, especially when it comes to the nurse-client relationship as “they may develop a distrust of outsiders, including members of the health care profession, and are especially sensitive to any perceived bias or stereotyping.” (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2016, p. 115). Moreover, common practices such as hygiene could have a cultural implication in relation to this particular population and the nursing relationship with the client. It is suggested that “some homeless people believe that a layer of dirt helps protect them from becoming sick,” in this scenario it is essential for the nurse to be culturally sensitive and should not “express disapproval when caring for patients whose hygiene practices differs” from themselves. (Marshall, 2013, p. 771). According to Marshall (2013), the nurse should “avoid forcing changes in hygiene practices unless the practices affects affect the patient’s health,” and instead, the nurse should “use tact, provide information, and allow choices” (p.
It is noted that within the mentally ill population, different backgrounds and subgroups, also influence the cultural aspects of mental illness. One aspect mentioned by Townsend (2014) is that “people who are related to an individual or who are of the same cultural or social group are less likely to label that individual’s behavior as mental illness that is someone is relationally or culturally distant” (p.4). An individual’s culture may have a great impact on the self-esteem and the sense of belongingness for a person with mental illness. If one take the general cultural views of the Asian American population, for example, “psychiatric illness is viewed as behavior that is out of control and brings shame on the family, and in other cultures such as the Arab culture, “mental illness is considered a social stigma and symptoms are often somaticized, “all of which can be detrimental for the patient diagnosed with a mental illness including his or her overall