UNAIR NEWS – Humans are created as perfect creatures. Not only physical, but also equipped with biological, psychological, social, and spiritual components. These components need to be fulfilled.
All this time, said Sriyono, M.Kep., Ns., Sp.Kep.MB, patients who are in intensive care rooms are generally intubated and unconscious. This condition has psychological, social and spiritual impacts. These conditions often cause helplessness and hopelessness in patients and ultimately fall into a state of spiritual distress where patients no longer believe in God, no longer perform worship, and lose hope in God.
“The healing process and coping mechanism will certainly be hampered if the patient experiences spiritual distress,” Sriyono said.
According to him, nurses as health workers have an obligation to fulfil the basic needs of patients, especially spiritual needs. All this time, he continued, nurses in the intensive care room put more emphasis on physical needs alone, such as stabilizing the patient’s vital signs and coping with pain. It is still very rare for nurses to pay attention to spiritual needs.
“It happens because nurses do not know how to provide spiritual care to patients with intensive care whose conditions are intubated and helpless,” explained the lecturer of Faculty of Nursing, Universitas Airlangga.
Sriyono said that fulfilling spiritual needs is not limited to ritual worship. Communication is also an important component to do. Simple interventions such as communication with patients, listening to patient complaints, and conducting question and answer about patient beliefs can be done.
“Together with patients, nurses can understand patients in expressing experiences of pain, discomfort, and listening to emotional and anxiety expressions, such as depression, sadness, fear or loneliness, which can hamper their physical, emotional and spiritual health,” he said.
In this study, nurses are expected to provide facilities to patients by praying or reading books. Prayer has a positive effect on psychological and physical well-being. Identifying the patient’s kindness, respecting, speaking and listening, and praying are important aspects of spiritual care.
Praying together or praying for patients, spending time with patients and convincing patients, and offering hope are important and simple things that can be done by nurses, “he explained.
Furthermore, nurses can also work with religious leaders and families to provide guidance to patients to meet their spiritual needs because the family has an important role in supporting and improving the health condition of patients.
“Effective collaboration is needed, given the current changes in the health care system are called upon to provide adequate spiritual care. It will make the patient feel comfortable and accept his condition and can lead the patient to a peaceful death, “he concluded.
Author: Khefti Al Mawalia
Editor: Nuri Hermawan
Reference:
https://www.indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:ijphrd&volume=10&issue=8&article=536
Laili Nadia Rohmatul, Zulkarnain Hakim, Yasmara Deni, Sriyono. 2019. Promoting Spiritual Nursing Care in an Intensive Care Unit: A Systematic Review. Indian Journal of Public Health Research & Development, Volume : 10, Issue : 8.
