Disasters occur every day and affect all members of the society in different ways. these disaster may be man made or natural disasters, however their traumatic stress to the society depends on the magnitude of the disaster. The process of disaster recovery by rebuilding the community’s relationship is a complex issue. Spiritual affiliation is the inner beliefs of an individual, which may either be religious or non religious, nonetheless, spirituality is part of a culture in the society. Spiritual well being is a valuable feature of a community and nurses, who are members of the society, have a critical role to ensure that the society recovers from the spiritual stress caused by disasters.
When a disaster occurs, the people suffer as they try to inquire why such catastrophes are affecting them, they feel hopeless, and despair. In case the disaster is accidentally caused by an individual, the person may feel guilty and shameful. More so, the some members of the community end up feeling angered towards God, family members or society. At this point, spiritual care is necessary in order to ease the spiritual distress (LeBeau). According to Carson and Harold (2008), through the spiritual care, the members of the society are able to restore hope, strength, and during the healing process, the human spirit ends up being nurtured in such a way that it can cope with the stress. Besides the distress, some members of the society ends up suffering physically, hence, nurses are required to provide hospitality while accepting every member of the society as they are while causing no harm to victims of the disaster. Nurses are trained on spiritual healing and work with other spiritual leaders such as chaplains to support the recovery process. While offering the spiritual care, nurses have to respect the diverse beliefs, traditions, and religious background of the injured society. The issue of societal diversity is an ethical issue that spiritual care giver must take into account.
Works Cited
Carson, Verna B, and Harold G. Koenig. Spiritual Dimensions of Nursing Practice. West Conshohocken, Pa: Templeton Foundation Press, 2008. Print.
LeBeau, Tom. The Role of Spiritual Care In Disasters. September 2011. Web. 20 December 2013.[http://www2.erie.gov/smart/sites/www2.erie.gov.smart/files/uploads/pdfs/spiritualcarepresentation.pdf]
