Do You Want Some Spiritual Support? Different Rates of Positive Response to Chaplains' versus Nurses' Offer

Abstract

Correspondence may be sent to: Marco Martinuz, email: Marco.Martinuz@chuv.ch Access to spiritual support appears to be important in the hospital setting. The offer of spiritual support can be done by different providers such as doctors, nurses or chaplains. Who should initiate or coordinate this spiritual care. This study addresses the following questions: 1) How many patients accept spiritual proposition? 2) What is the better mode of proposition? The study's objectives are the assessment and comparison of the rates of acceptance to an offer of spiritual support made by nurses and chaplains. Two hundred twenty-three consecutive hospitalized patients hospitalized received a proposal of spiritual support and were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. Results revealed that 85.8 % of patients accepted the offer in the chaplains' group and 38.5 % in the nurses' group. Acceptance of the offer of spiritual support was positively associated with the proposal being made by the chaplains by the frequency of meditation and age, and negatively related to physical well-being.

Entwicklung der Palliativmedizinischen Dienste (PMD) in Bayern 2011–2015: Aufgaben, Akzeptanz, Struktur und Finanzierung

“…Die Vielfalt wahrgenommener Aufgaben zeigt, dass es ein multiprofessionell ausgerichtetes Team zu deren Bewältigung bedarf. Bemerkenswert in diesem Zusammenhang ist der signifikante Rückgang der Tätigkeiten im Bereich "Spiritualität" zwischen den Jahren 2011 und 2015, obwohl in einer Reihe von Arbeiten der letzten Jahre die zentrale Bedeutung spiritueller Fragestellungen am Lebensende beschrieben wurde [17,18]. Ein Zusammenhang ist hier am ehesten mit dem bereits genannten Rückgang der Präsenz von Seelsorgern in den Teams zu vermuten, für die wiederum die erwähnten strukturellen Rahmenbedingungen ursächlich erscheinen.…”

Healthcare Providers’ Perceptions about the Role of Spiritual Care and Chaplaincy Services in Substance Use Outpatient Treatment

“…However, R/S discussion and referral to chaplaincy services appear to vary greatly across providers and settings. While few patients request to see a chaplain [ 10 ], many who seek to discuss their spiritual needs prefer to meet with someone specifically trained in this area instead of their physician, as many in this latter group report being uncomfortable discussing R/S topics and appreciate the ability to refer their patients to chaplains [ 1 , 11 ]. Despite physicians’ discomfort, most patients express a desire to discuss R/S needs with a healthcare provider [ 12 ] and more so in cases involving serious diagnoses [ 13 ].…”