The concept of spirituality in palliative care: an alternative view

Abstract

Here are some of the things that are said about spirituality, quite routinely, in the nursing literature. Spirituality is ‘a dimension within every person’ (Golberg, 1998). It is ‘present in all individuals’ (Narayanasamy, 1999), including ‘the atheists, agnostics, humanists and hedonists’ (Baldacchino and Draper, 2001). ‘Spirituality is an invisible force’, a ‘mysterious and transcendental force’, a ‘force that transcends the rational and intellectual capabilities of our human state, uniting us with the whole of creation both at a material and supernatural level’ (McSherry, 2006). It assists us ‘to access a mode of perception that goes beyond logical reasoning and leads to congruence through a sense of unity with the universe’ (Friedemann et al, 2002). Its essence is ‘transcendence, an appeal to, or a recognition of, a higher level existence wherein the paradoxes and antinomies of our mundane existence are to be resolved’ (Dawson, 1997). Spirituality is the central artery that ‘permeates, energizes and enlivens’ the other dimensions of the person (Ross, 1997), an ‘everlasting phenomenon that sustains and pervades all cultures’ (Narayanasamy and Owens, 2001).