The healing hospital paradigm focuses on treatment and remedial methods that aim at reducing stress to enhance health recovery. It entails application of holistic treatment approaches to enhance healing and curing of patients. It focuses on physical, spiritual, and emotional aspects of an individual. Many hospitals are shifting from symptom-based treatment to combination of healing concepts.
This term paper provides an insight into the healing hospital paradigm by examining various aspects such as physical environment, spirituality of patients, influence of technology, compassionate care, and challenges of creating treatment environments.
Healing Physical Environment in Relation to Spirituality
Environment dictates the wellbeing of a patient’s condition with regard to the body, spirit, and mind. Sheperd and Foureur (2001) posit that environmental factors that bring about the wellbeing of individuals necessitate establishment of the required culture in healing hospitals. Enhancement of wellness depends on accessibility to health facilities.
Health facilities should also offer adequate privacy to patients. Incorporation of technology enhances speed of work in areas such as instruction, advocacy, and delivery of medical services. According to Sheperd and Foureur (2001), this situation provides patients with adequate time for spiritual healing.
Hospital environment either facilitates or discourages interactions amongst patients, nurses, doctors, and caregivers. For instance, a spacious health facility that has comfortable chairs and adequate privacy can encourage families to seek social and moral support. Hospital environments influence behaviors and motivational levels of people. For instance, Sheperd and Foureur (2001) reveal that bright lights reduce depression and agitation.
Integration of Technology and Work Design in Relation to Spirituality
Incorporation of advanced technology in hospitals has significantly improved service delivery. Nowadays, treatment of complicated illnesses such as cardiovascular infections and injuries has been enhanced through technological aids. Although technology has escalated delivery of quality care, Milstein (2005) reveals that combination of spirituality and technology is crucial for ultimate healing. Spirituality enhances recovery of emotional and psychological wellbeing of a patient. On the other hand, technology enhances treatment of diagnosed conditions (Milstein, 2005).
Compassionate Care and Love
Professional healthcare practices entail provision of compassionate care to patients. Therefore, nurses should be trained adequately on presentation of dignity when attending to the patients. They should also attend to spiritual, physical, and/or psychological needs of the patients’ families, if necessary (Astrow, Puchalski, & Sulmasy, 2001).
Compassionate care creates a nurse-patient relationship by establishing a common understanding. This situation culminates into a clinical relationship. Establishment of ethical guidelines in hospitals enhances treatment and healing (Astrow et al., 2001). Compassionate care entails aspects such as formal intimacy and boundaries.
Formal Intimacy
The conditions of patients compel them to handover self-will to clinicians because they are unable to dictate their conditions. This situation makes them feel vulnerable to their conditions. However, clinicians should treat patients according to work ethics (Milstein, 2005). Most nurses are conversant with spiritual aspects of healing. Therefore, it is a patient’s duty to make spirituality decisions that must be respected at all costs (Astrow et al., 2001). It is the responsibility of nurses to respect the patients’ uniqueness to build outstanding rapport (Astrow et al., 2001).
Boundaries
Boundaries refer to unspoken, physical, emotional, social, and spiritual limits that influence the significance of clinicians and patients during the process of delivering compassionate care (Milstein, 2005). Astrow et al. (2001) posit that nurses should allow families, spiritual leaders, and other relevant visitors to grace with the presence of the patients since communication and prayer enhance healing.
Challenges of Founding a Healing Environment
At the outset, most hospital facilities have insufficient space. This situation results in congestion that exposes patients to infections. Congestion can also lead to medication errors (Milstein, 2005). Another challenge is noise pollution. Most hospitals are located in the central business districts (CBDs) of urban areas. These areas are characterized by hooting, screeching sounds of vehicles, and loud music among other forms of noise.
Therefore, there is a need to install high performance sound proofs to reduce such noises in hospital environments. Milstein (2005) reveals that silent hospital environments enhance administration of treatment and healing of patients. Lastly, most ward layouts and nursing workstations of nurses are poor. This situation leads to fatigue and human traffic, thereby disrupting communication. This situation eventually delays service delivery (Milstein, 2005).
Biblical Citation to Support the Paradigm
The Bible reveals that spirituality and treatment are correlated. In the Bible, Jesus demonstrates His compassionate love and care to the sick. For instance, when He visits Peter, His disciple, and finds that his mother-in-law is suffering from fever, He places her hand upon her and the fever is healed (Mathew 8: 14-15). This verse shows that spirituality is crucial for ultimate healing.
Conclusion
In the light of the healing hospital paradigm, nurses should inculcate spiritual and medical approaches in curing and healing of patients. They should follow ethical guidelines that pertain to compassionate care. Enhancement of nurse-patient relationships is also crucial for enhancement of health recovery. Therefore, caregivers should honor guidelines that are stipulated in the healing hospital paradigm whilst observing authentic boundaries between patients and nurses.
References
Astrow, B., Puchalski, M., & Sulmasy, P. (2001). Religion, spirituality, and health care: social, ethical, and practical considerations. American Journal of Medicine, 110(4), 283-7.
Milstein, J. (2005). A paradigm of integrative care: healing with curing throughout life, “being with” and “doing to”. Journal of Perinatology, 25(9), 563-8.
Sheperd, L., & Foureur, M. (2001). Introduction of night-lights to reduce falls on an assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation unit. Journal of the Australasian Rehabilitation Nurses’ Association, 4(4), 11-13.