De-Mystifying Spirituality for the Curriculum: Challenges in Teaching Spirituality within a

Nursing Programme

BACKGROUNDRevd Ian M Delinger

Chaplain to the University of Chester's Faculty of Health & Social Care.

Teaching 'Spiritual

Care’.

The Nursing and

Midwifery Council:

psychological,

emotional and spiritual dimensions of patients.

Delivered 5 times since September.

De-Mystifying:

What is ‘spirituality’

?  

The experience of teaching Spirituality

outside TRS.

REVIEWING THE EXPERIENCEPrejudices and barriers to teaching Spiritual Care.

Approaches to teaching such a difficult subject.

The support in the process of development.

The path to integration into the curriculum and into practice.

PREJUDICES AROUND SPIRITUALITYReligion is a taboo subject.

Lack of religious knowledge.

General societal attitudes.

How persons view the self.  

RELIGION – A TABOO SUBJECT

Misconceptions of me as a priest.

Religion is to be a personal matter: • ‘We don’t do religion.’ Alastair Campbell.• Richard Dawkins. • Humanist Society.

Define in order to De-Mystify.

LACK OF RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE

• Will the session be about how to pray for patients? • Caroline Petrie.

Assumptions of opting out.

Decline in church attendance.

Religious Education Curriculum too broad.

• What is prayer Faith?’, • ‘What happens when you pray?’

Difficulty answering questions like:

No framework of experience from which to draw.

DOES A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE MATTER?•Underst

anding and respect.

•A sharing of broader experiences.

Knowledge and

experience lead to

•Reading and discussing.

•Exploring different spiritualities and worship practices, eg attending the funeral of a patient.

Gaining knowledge

and experience

by

GENERAL SOCIETAL ATTITUDES

•Church’s in-fighting.

•9/11 and the rise of Islamaphobia.

•BBC ‘What the World Thinks About God’: “more than a quarter of Britons thought the world would be more peaceful with nobody believing in God”.

Bad press

GENERAL SOCIETAL ATTITUDES•BBC

online survey: ‘Who or what is most influential in your life?’, 16% answered ‘Yourself’. •3rd

highest percentage after God and Partner/Family.

What is existential?

•Can students contemplate their own spirituality, let alone someone else’s?

Unwilling or unable to engage

outside the self?

GENERAL SOCIETAL ATTITUDESReligion is personal’. 

Personal ‘left at door’. Possible?

“I would probably

rather tell you about my sex

life than about

my spiritual life. And

I’m fairly sure

that you would

be more scandalised to find a

Bible at the

bottom of my

briefcase than a copy of

the Karma

Sutra.” (Allen 1991,

p52)

Any others relate to

these issues?

BARRIERS TO TURNING THEORY INTO PRACTICE I am not a

nurse!

The Medical Model has taken over.

‘We’re too busy’.

Not widely practiced by Staff Nurses.

Not part of reflection or assessment. 

Interdisciplinary issues.• Not exactly a

barrier – without consultation or collaboration is.

APPROACHES TO THEORY IN PRACTICE

A problem: Spirituality cannot easily be observed.

•“The spirit cannot be observed directly. However, a person's spirituality is accessible in that it manifests itself in thoughts, behaviours and language that can, to some degree, be observed, understood and nurtured.” (Swinton, 2001, p36)

APPROACHES TO THEORY IN PRACTICE

The more life experiences, the more we engage with that which is not familiar, the better we are able to understand people, in general.

EXPERIENCE!!

READ!!Lots of books

and articles are available.

Enhance skills of

observation

APPROACHES TO THEORY IN PRACTICE

Get students to engage: The Risky Exercise

“Carers need to be able to say ‘I may not believe it, but because she needs it, then we’ll try and provide that for her.’” (Swinton, 2001, p135)

‘I believe! Help my unbelief.’

Key Element: Know Thyself

POSITIVE AND SUPPORTIVE START

The Dean of the

Faculty of Health &

Social Care

Lecturers

Hands off approach

Trust and respect

No convincing or arm twisting

required!

WHAT DOES INTEGRATION LOOK LIKE?

•At all levels•Staff•Students•Colleagues

Cooperation

•With curriculum development.•With Senior Staff.•With Students.•With timetabling.

Patience!!!

WHAT DOES INTEGRATION LOOK LIKE?

Integration

Curriculum Team

Lecturers teaching

Taught at all levels

Assessed Reflection Portfolios Practice

Thinking about it?

Teaching Spirituality:Go For It.

Just do it!