Introduction
The foundation of nursing care as a profession was founded and laid by Florence Nightingale. This profession was stereotyped to only be assumed by women, but in the modern days, men have already entered the profession also. People who take nursing care as a profession, take this duty from their heart. It is an important profession that must not be taken for granted. Nurses do not simply attend to patients, provide their medicine, and check their vital statistics. Their service reaches up to being a motivator, a counselor, an adviser, and most of the time a caring mother. Their duty to care for their patients is not limited inside hospitals, different types of situations call for different responses from nurses. One of which is responding in both natural and man-made calamities, which may require not only physical, but spiritual care.
Spiritual Nursing Care in Disasters
A disaster aftermath always leaves many implications in many aspects including spiritual Varghese, 2010). This implication is greatly influenced by a country’s culture and beliefs (Mauk & Scmidt, 2004). The resilience and self-reliance of the citizens are often tested whenever disaster comes. The most prominent spiritual issues that people who have been terribly affected by a disaster, more than a loss in material property, is the loss of hope. The feeling of distress and agony is what sometimes make people lose faith. This is mostly experienced by those who have lost almost everything, including a close relative or a family member. People who experience spiritual distress after a disaster have the tendencies to question previous faith or belief that s/he had. Spiritual issues after a disaster often include the feeling of guilt, and anger. These issues are not only felt by individuals, but also community leaders, and health care providers or response personnel. Most of these people have a huge tendency to adapt and sympathize with the surroundings, in this case, with victims of disasters.
Whether it be natural or man-made, disasters have the very same effects to everyone who experience it. In the context of natural disasters, most people who experience it would resort to ask the God they believe in why the disaster happened to them because they believe that that heavenly being is the one responsible for it. Meanwhile, when the disaster that took place is man-made, the usual spiritual issues that the victims and the other members of the community will have besides from the loss of hope, is the distress towards the people or institution responsible for the disaster that happened.
Role of Community Health Nurses
Community health workers have several roles to take part in performing spiritual care to individuals, communities, and even health care providers. The first one is assessing the spiritual distress situation that the individual is going through, which includes the words of people who have family members who passed away because of the disaster, or the dying person himself (Bramadat, Coward, & Stajduhar, 2013).
Second is to address the trauma that the individual is experiencing, and to help him/her treat and overcome it, if possible. For people who have experienced disasters and are experiencing trauma, community health workers provide and express encouragement, motivation, and support to uplift the spirit of the individual (NHS Education for Scotland, 2009).
Last but not the least, community health workers provide constant companionship with the individuals, communities, and even colleagues that they take care of. Companionship would mean constant updating, conversations, and engagements with the victims of the disaster. This would help the patients recognize the problem that they are facing, learn to seek the help that they need, and eventually help themselves overcome the spiritual issues that they have.
References
Bramadat, P., Coward, H., & Stajduhar, K. I. (Eds.). (2013). Spirituality in Hospice Palliative Care. Retrieved May 6, 2016, from https://books.google.com.ph/books?hl=en&lr=&id=8cMoAAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA 41&dq=spiritual care in nursing&ots=k_dAZ4bLhU&sig=tnvJQlZZogGaiF80LOsL3jS1wBA&redir_esc=y#v=on epage&q=spiritual care in nursing&f=false
Mauk, K. L., & Schmidt, N. A. (2004). Spiritual Care in Nursing Practice. Retrieved May 6, 2016, from https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=pxLWzdMKgZYC&printsec=frontcover#v=onep age&q&f=false
Varghese, S. B. (2010). Cultural, ethical, and spiritual implications of natural disasters from the survivors' perspective [Abstract]. PubMed, 515-522. Retrieved May 6, 2016, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21095559
